Jeremiah 31

New International Reader's Version

31 “At that time I will be the God of all the families of Israel,” announces the Lord. “And they will be my people.”

²The Lord says,

“Some of my people will live through
everything their enemies do to them.
They will find help in the desert.
I will come to give peace and rest to Israel.”

³The Lord appeared to us in the past. He said,

“I have loved you with a love that lasts forever.
    I have kept on loving you with a kindness that never fails.
⁴I will build you up again.
    Nation of Israel, you will be rebuilt.
Once again you will use your tambourines to celebrate.
    You will go out and dance with joy.
⁵Once again you will plant vineyards
    on the hills of Samaria.
Farmers will plant them.
    They will enjoy their fruit.
⁶There will be a day when those on guard duty will cry out.
    They will stand on the hills of Ephraim.
    And they will shout,
‘Come! Let’s go up to Zion.
    Let’s go up to where the Lord our God is.’ ”

⁷The Lord says,

“Sing for joy because the people of Jacob are blessed.
    Shout because the Lord has made them the greatest nation.
Make your praises heard.
    Say, ‘Lord, save your people.
    Save the people who are left alive in Israel.’
⁸I will bring them from the land of the north.
    I will gather them from one end of the earth to the other.
Even those who are blind and those who can’t walk
    will be among them.
Pregnant women and women having their babies
    will be among them also.
    Many of them will return.
⁹Their eyes will be filled with tears as they come.
    They will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water.
    I will lead them on a level path
    where they will not trip or fall.
I am Israel’s father.
    And Ephraim is my oldest son.

¹⁰“Listen to my message, you nations.
    Announce it on shores far away.
Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather them.
    He will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
¹¹I will set the people of Jacob free.
    I will save them from those who are stronger than they are.
¹²They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.
    They will be joyful because of everything I give them.
I give them grain, olive oil and fresh wine.
    I give them the young animals in their flocks and herds.
Israel will be like a garden that has plenty of water.
    And they will not be sad anymore.
¹³Then young women will dance and be glad.
    And so will the men, young and old alike.
I will turn their mourning into gladness.
    I will comfort them.
    And I will give them joy instead of sorrow.
¹⁴I will satisfy the priests. I will give them more than enough.
    And my people will be filled with the good things I give them,”
    announces the Lord.

¹⁵The Lord says,

“A voice is heard in Ramah.
    It is the sound of weeping and deep sadness.
Rachel is weeping for her children.
    She refuses to be comforted,
    because they are gone.”

¹⁶The Lord says,

“Do not weep anymore.
    Do not let tears fall from your eyes.
I will reward you for your work,”
    announces the Lord.
    “Your children will return from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷So there is hope for your children,”
    announces the Lord.
    “Your children will return to their own land.

¹⁸“I have heard the groans of Ephraim’s people. They say,
    ‘You corrected us like a calf you were training.
    And we have been trained.
Bring us back to you, and we will come back.
    You are the Lord our God.
¹⁹After we wandered away from you,
    we turned away from our sins.
After we learned our lesson,
    we beat our chests in sorrow.
We were full of shame.
    What we did when we were young brought dishonor on us.’
²⁰Aren’t the people of Ephraim my dear children?
    Aren’t they the children I take delight in?
I often speak against them.
    But I still remember them.
So my heart longs for them.
    I love them with a tender love,”
    announces the Lord.

²¹The Lord says, “Put up road signs.
    Set up stones to show the way.
Look carefully for the highway.
    Look for the road you will take.
Return, people of Israel.
    Return to your towns.
²²How long will you wander,
    my people Israel, who are not faithful to me?
I will create a new thing on earth.
    The woman will return to the man.”

²³The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “I will bring them back from the place where they were taken. Here is what the people in Judah and its towns will say once again. ‘May the Lord bless you, you successful city. Sacred mountain, may he bless you.’ ²⁴People will live together in Judah and all its towns. Farmers and shepherds will live there. ²⁵I will give rest to those who are tired. I will satisfy those who are weak.”

²⁶When I heard this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

²⁷Here is what the Lord announces. “The days are coming when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah again. I will plant them with children and young animals. ²⁸I watched over Israel and Judah to pull them up by the roots. I tore them down. I crushed them. I destroyed them. I brought horrible trouble on them. But now I will watch over them to build them up and plant them,” announces the Lord. ²⁹“In those days people will no longer say,

“ ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes.
But the children have a bitter taste in their mouths.’

³⁰Instead, everyone will die for their own sin. The one who eats sour grapes will taste how bitter they are.

³¹“The days are coming,” announces the Lord.
    “I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel.
    I will also make it with the people of Judah.
³²It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their people of long ago.
That was when I took them by the hand.
    I led them out of Egypt.
But they broke my covenant.
    They did it even though I was like a husband to them,”
    announces the Lord.
³³“This is the covenant I will make with Israel
    after that time,” announces the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds.
    I will write it on their hearts.
I will be their God.
    And they will be my people.
³⁴They will not need to teach their neighbor anymore.
    And they will not need to teach one another anymore.
    They will not need to say, ‘Know the Lord.’
That’s because everyone will know me.
    From the least important of them to the most important,
    all of them will know me,”
    announces the Lord.
“I will forgive their evil ways.
    I will not remember their sins anymore.”

³⁵The Lord speaks.

He makes the sun
    shine by day.
He orders the moon and stars
    to shine at night.
He stirs up the ocean.
    He makes its waves roar.
    His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
³⁶“Suppose my orders for creation disappear from my sight,”
    announces the Lord.
“Only then will the people of Israel stop being
    a nation in my sight.”

³⁷The Lord says,

“Suppose the sky above could be measured.
    Suppose the foundations of the earth below could be completely discovered.
Only then would I turn away the people of Israel.
    Even though they have committed many sins,
    I will still accept them,”
    announces the Lord.

³⁸“The days are coming,” announces the Lord. “At that time Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me. It will be rebuilt from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹The measuring line will reach out from there. It will go straight to the hill of Gareb. Then it will turn and reach as far as Goah. ⁴⁰There is a valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown. That whole valley will be holy to me. The side of the Kidron Valley east of the city will be holy to me. It will be holy all the way to the corner of the Horse Gate. The city will never again be pulled up by the roots. It will never be destroyed.”

Jeremiah 31

New King James Version

The Remnant of Israel Saved

31 “At ^(A)the same time,” says the Lord, ^(B)“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

²Thus says the Lord:

“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when ^(C)I went to give him rest.”

³The Lord has appeared ^[a]of old to me, saying:
“Yes, ^(D)I have loved you with ^(E)an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have ^(F)drawn you.
⁴Again ^(G)I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
You shall again be adorned with your ^(H)tambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
⁵^(I)You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;
The planters shall plant and ^[b]eat them as ordinary food.
⁶For there shall be a day
When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim,
^(J)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’ ”

⁷For thus says the Lord:

^(K)“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!’
⁸Behold, I will bring them ^(L)from the north country,
And ^(M)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^(N)They shall come with weeping,
And with supplications I will lead them.
I will cause them to walk ^(O)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 ^(P)firstborn.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare it in the ^[c]isles afar off, and say,
‘He who scattered Israel ^(Q)will gather him,
And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’
¹¹For ^(R)the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And ransomed him ^(S)from the hand of one stronger than he.
¹²Therefore they shall come and sing in ^(T)the height of Zion,
Streaming to ^(U)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 ^(V)well-watered garden,
^(W)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.
¹⁴I will ^[d]satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

Mercy on Ephraim

¹⁵Thus says the Lord:

^(X)“A voice was heard in ^(Y)Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter ^(Z)weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted for her children,
Because ^(AA)they are no more.”

¹⁶Thus says the Lord:

“Refrain your voice from ^(AB)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.
¹⁷There is ^(AC)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 ^(AD)chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained bull;
^(AE)Restore me, and I will return,
For You are the Lord my God.
¹⁹Surely, ^(AF)after my turning, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;
I was ^(AG)ashamed, yes, even humiliated,
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
²⁰Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a pleasant child?
For though I spoke against him,
I earnestly remember him still;
^(AH)Therefore My ^[e]heart yearns for him;
^(AI)I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.

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

Future Prosperity of Judah

²³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ^(AM)‘The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and ^(AN)mountain of holiness!’ ²⁴And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and ^(AO)in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks. ²⁵For I have ^[g]satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

²⁶After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was ^(AP)sweet to me.

²⁷“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that ^(AQ)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸And it shall come to pass, that as I have ^(AR)watched over them ^(AS)to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them ^(AT)to build and to plant, says the Lord. ²⁹^(AU)In those days they shall say no more:

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

³⁰^(AV)But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

A New Covenant

³¹“Behold, the ^(AW)days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ³²not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that ^(AX)I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, ^[h]though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. ³³^(AY)But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: ^(AZ)I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their ^[i]hearts; ^(BA)and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for ^(BB)they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For ^(BC)I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

³⁵Thus says the Lord,
^(BD)Who gives the sun for a light by day,
The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
Who disturbs ^(BE)the sea,
And its waves roar
^(BF)(The Lord of hosts is His name):

³⁶“If ^(BG)those ordinances depart
From before Me, says the Lord,
Then the seed of Israel shall also cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”

³⁷Thus says the Lord:

^(BH)“If heaven above can be measured,
And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
I will also ^(BI)cast off all the seed of Israel
For all that they have done, says the Lord.

³⁸“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord ^(BJ)from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹^(BK)The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. ⁴⁰And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, ^(BL)to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, ^(BM)shall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Lit. from afar
Jeremiah 31:5 Lit. treat them as common
Jeremiah 31:10 Or coastlands
Jeremiah 31:14 Fill to the full
Jeremiah 31:20 Lit. inward parts
Jeremiah 31:21 Or Return
Jeremiah 31:25 fully satisfied
Jeremiah 31:32 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. and I turned away from them
Jeremiah 31:33 Lit. inward parts

Jeremiah 31

New International Version

31 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God^(A) of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

²This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survive the sword
will find favor^(B) in the wilderness;
I will come to give rest^(C) to Israel.”

³The Lord appeared to us in the past,^[a] saying:

“I have loved^(D) you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn^(E) you with unfailing kindness.
⁴I will build you up again,
    and you, Virgin^(F) Israel, will be rebuilt.^(G)
Again you will take up your timbrels^(H)
    and go out to dance^(I) with the joyful.^(J)
⁵Again you will plant^(K) vineyards
    on the hills of Samaria;^(L)
the farmers will plant them
    and enjoy their fruit.^(M)
⁶There will be a day when watchmen^(N) cry out
    on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”^(O)

⁷This is what the Lord says:

“Sing^(P) with joy for Jacob;
    shout for the foremost^(Q) of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
    ‘Lord, save^(R) your people,
    the remnant^(S) of Israel.’
⁸See, I will bring them from the land of the north^(T)
    and gather^(U) them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind^(V) and the lame,^(W)
    expectant mothers and women in labor;
    a great throng will return.
⁹They will come with weeping;^(X)
    they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead^(Y) them beside streams of water^(Z)
    on a level^(AA) path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,^(AB)
    and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
    proclaim it in distant coastlands:^(AC)
‘He who scattered^(AD) Israel will gather^(AE) them
    and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’^(AF)
¹¹For the Lord will deliver Jacob
    and redeem^(AG) them from the hand of those stronger^(AH) than they.
¹²They will come and shout for joy^(AI) on the heights^(AJ) of Zion;
    they will rejoice in the bounty^(AK) of the Lord—
the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,^(AL)
    the young of the flocks^(AM) and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,^(AN)
    and they will sorrow^(AO) no more.
¹³Then young women will dance and be glad,
    young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning^(AP) into gladness;
    I will give them comfort^(AQ) and joy^(AR) instead of sorrow.
¹⁴I will satisfy^(AS) the priests^(AT) with abundance,
    and my people will be filled with my bounty,^(AU)”
declares the Lord.

¹⁵This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,^(AV)
    mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,^(AW)
    because they are no more.”^(AX)

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping
    and your eyes from tears,^(AY)
for your work will be rewarded,^(AZ)”
declares the Lord.
    “They will return^(BA) from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷So there is hope^(BB) for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
    “Your children^(BC) will return to their own land.

¹⁸“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
    ‘You disciplined^(BD) me like an unruly calf,^(BE)
    and I have been disciplined.
Restore^(BF) me, and I will return,
    because you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹After I strayed,^(BG)
    I repented;
after I came to understand,
    I beat^(BH) my breast.
I was ashamed^(BI) and humiliated
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’^(BJ)
²⁰Is not Ephraim my dear son,
    the child^(BK) in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
    I still remember^(BL) him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
    I have great compassion^(BM) for him,”
declares the Lord.

²¹“Set up road signs;
    put up guideposts.^(BN)
Take note of the highway,^(BO)
    the road that you take.
Return,^(BP) Virgin^(BQ) Israel,
    return to your towns.
²²How long will you wander,^(BR)
    unfaithful^(BS) Daughter Israel?
The Lord will create a new thing^(BT) on earth—
    the woman will return to^[b]^(BU) the man.”

²³This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity,^[c]^(BV) the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord bless^(BW) you, you prosperous city,^(BX) you sacred mountain.’^(BY) ²⁴People will live^(BZ) together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks.^(CA) ²⁵I will refresh the weary^(CB) and satisfy the faint.”^(CC)

²⁶At this I awoke^(CD) and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

²⁷“The days are coming,”^(CE) declares the Lord, “when I will plant^(CF) the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. ²⁸Just as I watched^(CG) over them to uproot^(CH) and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster,^(CI) so I will watch over them to build and to plant,”^(CJ) declares the Lord. ²⁹“In those days people will no longer say,

‘The parents^(CK) have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’^(CL)

³⁰Instead, everyone will die for their own sin;^(CM) whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will make a new covenant^(CN)
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
³²It will not be like the covenant^(CO)
    I made with their ancestors^(CP)
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,^(CQ)
because they broke my covenant,
    though I was a husband^(CR) to^[d] them,^[e]”
declares the Lord.
³³“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds^(CS)
    and write it on their hearts.^(CT)
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.^(CU)
³⁴No longer will they teach^(CV) their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know^(CW) me,
    from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive^(CX) their wickedness
    and will remember their sins^(CY) no more.”

³⁵This is what the Lord says,

he who appoints^(CZ) the sun
    to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
    to shine by night,^(DA)
who stirs up the sea^(DB)
    so that its waves roar^(DC)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:^(DD)
³⁶“Only if these decrees^(DE) vanish from my sight,”
    declares the Lord,
“will Israel^(DF) ever cease
    being a nation before me.”

³⁷This is what the Lord says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured^(DG)
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject^(DH) all the descendants of Israel
because of all they have done,”
declares the Lord.

³⁸“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt^(DI) for me from the Tower of Hananel^(DJ) to the Corner Gate.^(DK) ³⁹The measuring line^(DL) will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰The whole valley^(DM) where dead bodies^(DN) and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley^(DO) on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate,^(DP) will be holy^(DQ) to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Or Lord has appeared to us from afar
Jeremiah 31:22 Or will protect
Jeremiah 31:23 Or I restore their fortunes
Jeremiah 31:32 Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac / and I turned away from
Jeremiah 31:32 Or was their master

Jeremiah 31

English Standard Version

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

31 ^(A)“At that time, declares the Lord, ^(B)I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

²Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
^(C)when Israel sought for rest,
³    the Lord appeared to him^[a] from far away.
^(D)I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore ^(E)I have continued ^(F)my faithfulness to you.
⁴^(G)Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
^(H)Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in ^(I)the dance of the merrymakers.
⁵^(J)Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.
⁶For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
    in ^(K)the hill country of Ephraim:
^(L)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷For thus says the Lord:
^(M)“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for ^(N)the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ^(O)‘O Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸Behold, I will bring them ^(P)from the north country
    and ^(Q)gather them from ^(R)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^(S)the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
⁹^(T)With weeping they shall come,
    ^(U)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^(V)walk by brooks of water,
    ^(W)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^(X)I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is ^(Y)my firstborn.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^(Z)gather him,
    and will keep him ^(AA)as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
¹¹^(AB)For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from ^(AC)hands too strong for him.
¹²They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    ^(AD)and they shall be radiant ^(AE)over the goodness of the Lord,
^(AF)over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^(AG)their life shall be like a watered garden,
    ^(AH)and they shall languish no more.
¹³^(AI)Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^(AJ)I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴^(AK)I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”

¹⁵Thus says the Lord:
^(AL)“A voice is heard in ^(AM)Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
^(AN)Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    ^(AO)because they are no more.”

¹⁶Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
    and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the Lord,
    and ^(AP)they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷^(AQ)There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.
¹⁸I have heard ^(AR)Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
^(AS)bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹For after ^(AT)I had turned away, I relented,
    and after I was instructed, ^(AU)I struck my thigh;
^(AV)I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
²⁰^(AW)Is Ephraim my dear son?
    ^(AX)Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I do remember him still.
^(AY)Therefore my heart^[b] yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.

²¹^(AZ)“Set up road markers for yourself;
    make yourself guideposts;
^(BA)consider well the highway,
    ^(BB)the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
    return to these your cities.
²²^(BC)How long will you waver,
    ^(BD)O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
    a woman encircles a man.”

²³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, ^(BE)when I restore their fortunes:

^(BF)“‘The Lord bless you, ^(BG)O habitation of righteousness,
^(BH)O holy hill!’

²⁴^(BI)And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ^(BJ)the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. ²⁵For I will ^(BK)satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

²⁶At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

²⁷^(BL)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^(BM)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ^(BN)the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸And it shall come to pass that ^(BO)as I have watched over them ^(BP)to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, ^(BQ)so I will watch over them ^(BR)to build and to plant, declares the Lord. ²⁹In those days they shall no longer say:

^(BS)“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge.’

³⁰^(BT)But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

The New Covenant

³¹^(BU)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make ^(BV)a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³²not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when ^(BW)I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, ^(BX)though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³^(BY)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: ^(BZ)I will put my law within them, and I will write it ^(CA)on their hearts. ^(CB)And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ ^(CC)for they shall all know me, ^(CD)from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For ^(CE)I will forgive their iniquity, and ^(CF)I will remember their sin no more.”

³⁵Thus says the Lord,
who ^(CG)gives the sun for light by day
    and ^(CH)the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    ^(CI)the Lord of hosts is his name:
³⁶^(CJ)“If this fixed order departs
    from before me, declares the Lord,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
    from being a nation before me forever.”

³⁷Thus says the Lord:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
^(CK)then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”

³⁸^(CL)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord ^(CM)from the Tower of Hananel to ^(CN)the Corner Gate. ³⁹^(CO)And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰^(CP)The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the ^(CQ)brook Kidron, to the corner of ^(CR)the Horse Gate toward the east, ^(CS)shall be sacred to the Lord. ^(CT)It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Septuagint; Hebrew me
Jeremiah 31:20 Hebrew bowels

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

New King James Version (NKJV)

New International Version (NIV)

Jeremiah 31

New International Reader's Version