Jeremia 31 | New International Reader’s Version

1 ‘At that time I will be the God of all the families of Israel,’ announces the LORD. ‘And they will be my people.’ 2 The 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.’ 3 The LORD appeared to us in the past. He said, ‘I have loved you with a love that lasts for ever. I have kept on loving you with a kindness that never fails. 4 I 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. 5 Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria. Farmers will plant them. They will enjoy their fruit. 6 There 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.” ’ 7 The 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.” 8 I 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. 9 Their 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 eldest 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.” 11 I will set the people of Jacob free. I will save them from those who are stronger than they are. 12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion. They will be joyful because of everything I give them. I give them corn, 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. 13 Then 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. 14 I 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. 15 The 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.’ 16 The 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. 17 So 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. 19 After 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 dishonour on us.” 20 Aren’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. 21 The 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. 22 How 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.’ 23 The 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.” 24 People will live together in Judah and all its towns. Farmers and shepherds will live there. 25 I will give rest to those who are tired. I will satisfy those who are weak.’ 26 When I heard this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me. 27 Here 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. 28 I 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.” 30 Instead, 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. 32 It 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. 34 They will not need to teach their neighbour 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.’ 35 The 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.’ 37 The 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. 39 The 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. 40 There 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.’

English Standard Version

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

1 “At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.” 2 Thus says the Lord: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, 3 the Lord appeared to him* from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5 Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’” 7 For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for 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 from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is 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 gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ 11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. 13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.” 15 Thus says the Lord: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” 16 Thus 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 they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country. 18 I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the Lord my God. 19 For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ 20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart* yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord. 21 “Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. 22 How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man.” 23 Thus 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, when I restore their fortunes: “‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!’ 24 And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” 26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me. 27 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say: “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ 30 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 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” 35 Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name: 36 “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.” 37 Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.” 38 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”

Jeremia 31 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

The New Covenant