Jeremiah 31:7-30

New King James Version

^(A)“Sing with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O Lord, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’
⁸ Behold, I will bring them ^(B)from the north country,
And ^(C)gather them from the ends of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child
And the one who labors with child, together;
A great throng shall return there.
^9 (D)They shall come with weeping,
And with supplications I will lead them.
I will cause them to walk ^(E)by the rivers of waters,
In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;
For I am a Father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My ^(F)firstborn.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare it in the ^[a]isles afar off, and say,
‘He who scattered Israel ^(G)will gather him,
And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’
¹¹ For ^(H)the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And ransomed him ^(I)from the hand of one stronger than he.
¹² Therefore they shall come and sing in ^(J)the height of Zion,
Streaming to ^(K)the goodness of the Lord—
For wheat and new wine and oil,
For the young of the flock and the herd;
Their souls shall be like a ^(L)well-watered garden,
^(M)And they shall sorrow no more at all.

¹³ “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together;
For I will turn their mourning to joy,
Will comfort them,
And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.
¹⁴ I will ^[b]satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

^(N)“A voice was heard in ^(O)Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter ^(P)weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted for her children,
Because ^(Q)they are no more.”

“Refrain your voice from ^(R)weeping,
And your eyes from tears;
For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,
And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ There is ^(S)hope in your future, says the Lord,
That your children shall come back to their own border.

¹⁸ “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:
‘You have ^(T)chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained bull;
^(U)Restore me, and I will return,
For You are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ Surely, ^(V)after my turning, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;
I was ^(W)ashamed, yes, even humiliated,
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
²⁰ Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a pleasant child?
For though I spoke against him,
I earnestly remember him still;
^(X)Therefore My ^[c]heart yearns for him;
^(Y)I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.

²¹ “Set up signposts,
Make landmarks;
^(Z)Set your heart toward the highway,
The way in which you went.
^[d]Turn back, O virgin of Israel,
Turn back to these your cities.
²² How long will you ^(AA)gad about,
O you ^(AB)backsliding daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—
A woman shall encompass a man.”

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’