Jeremiah 31

1 At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.

“In that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

2 The Lord has said, Grace came in the waste land to a people kept safe from the sword, even to Israel on the way to his resting-place.

Thus says the Lord: “The people who had remained after the sword, found grace in the desert. Israel will go to his rest.”

3 From far away he saw the Lord: my love for you is an eternal love: so with mercy I have made you come with me.

The Lord appeared to me from a distance: “And I have loved you in perpetual charity. Therefore, showing pity, I have drawn you.

4 I will again make new your buildings, O virgin of Israel, and you will take up your place: again you will take up your instruments of music, and go out in the dances of those who are glad.

And I will build you up again. And you shall be built up, O virgin of Israel. Still shall you be adorned with your timbrels, and still shall you go forth to the singing of those who play.

5 Again will your vine-gardens be planted on the hill of Samaria: the planters will be planting and using the fruit.

Still shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant, and they will not gather the vintage until the time arrives.

6 For there will be a day when those who get in the grapes on the hills of Ephraim will be crying, Up! let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God.

For there will be a day on which the guardians on mount Ephraim will cry out: ‘Arise! And let us ascend on Zion to the Lord our God!’”

7 For the Lord has said, Make a glad song for Jacob and give a cry on the top of the mountains: give the news, give praise, and say, The Lord has given salvation to his people, even to the rest of Israel.

For thus says the Lord: “Exult in the joy of Jacob, and neigh before the head of the Gentiles. Shout, and sing, and say: ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’

8 See, I will take them from the north country, and get them from the inmost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the feeble-footed, the woman with child and her who is in birth-pains together: a very great army, they will come back here.

Behold, I will lead them from the land of the north, and I will gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, she who is with child, together with she who is giving birth: a great assembly returning to this place.

9 They will come with weeping, and going before them I will be their guide: guiding them by streams of water in a straight way where there is no falling: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is the first of my sons.

They will approach with weeping. And I will lead them back with mercy. And I will lead them through the torrents of water, by an upright way, and they will not stumble in it. For I have become Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.”

10 Give ear to the word of the Lord, O you nations, and give news of it in the sea-lands far away, and say, He who has sent Israel wandering will get him together and will keep him as a keeper does his flock.

Listen to the word of the Lord, O Gentiles, and announce it amid the islands that are far away, and say: “Whoever has scattered Israel will gather him, and he will guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.”

11 For the Lord has given a price for Jacob, and made him free from the hands of him who was stronger than he.

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and he has freed him from the hand of one more powerful.

12 So they will come with songs on the high places, flowing together to the good things of the Lord, to the grain and the wine and the oil, to the young ones of the flock and of the herd: their souls will be like a watered garden, and they will have no more sorrow.

And they will arrive and give praise on Mount Zion. And they will flow together, to the good things of the Lord, over grain, and wine, and oil, and the offspring of cattle and herds. And their soul will be like an irrigated garden, and they will no longer be hungry.

13 Then the virgin will have joy in the dance, and the young men and the old will be glad: for I will have their weeping turned into joy, I will give them comfort and make them glad after their sorrow.

Then the virgin will rejoice with singing, the young and the old together, and I will turn their mourning into gladness, and I will console them and gladden them after their sorrow.

14 I will give the priests their desired fat things, and my people will have a full measure of my good things, says the Lord.

And I will inebriate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be filled with my good things, says the Lord.”

15 So has the Lord said: In Ramah there is a sound of crying, weeping and bitter sorrow; Rachel weeping for her children; she will not be comforted for their loss.

Thus says the Lord: “A voice has been heard on high: of lamentation, mourning, and weeping; of Rachel crying for her sons and refusing to be consoled over them, because they are not.”

16 The Lord has said this: Keep your voice from sorrow and your eyes from weeping: for your work will be rewarded, says the Lord; and they will come back from the land of their hater.

Thus says the Lord: “Let your voice cease from crying and your eyes from tears. For there is a reward for your work, says the Lord. And they will return from the land of the enemy.

17 And there is hope for the future, says the Lord; and your children will come back to the land which is theirs.

And there is hope for your very end, says the Lord. And the sons will return to their own borders.

18 Certainly Ephraim's words of grief have come to my ears, You have given me training and I have undergone it like a young cow unused to the yoke: let me be turned and come back, for you are the Lord my God.

Listening, I heard Ephraim going into captivity: ‘You have chastised me, and I was instructed, like a young untamed bull. Convert me, and I shall be converted. For you are the Lord my God.

19 Truly, after I had been turned, I had regret for my ways; and after I had got knowledge, I made signs of sorrow: I was put to shame, truly, I was covered with shame, because I had to undergo the shame of my early years.

For after you converted me, I did penance. And after you revealed to me, I struck my thigh. I am confounded and ashamed. For I have endured the disgrace of my youth.’

20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he the child of my delight? for whenever I say things against him, I still keep him in my memory: so my heart is troubled for him; I will certainly have mercy on him, says the Lord.

Certainly, Ephraim is an honorable son to me; surely, he is a tender child. For I will still remember him, as in the time when I first spoke about him. Because my heart is stirred up over him, surely I will take pity on him, says the Lord.

21 Put up guiding pillars, make road signs for yourself: give attention to the highway, even the way in which you went: be turned again, O virgin of Israel, be turned to these your towns.

Establish a watchtower for yourself. Place yourself in bitterness. Direct your heart into the upright way, in which you used to walk. Return, return, O virgin of Israel, to these your cities!

22 How long will you go on turning this way and that, O wandering daughter? for the Lord has made a new thing on the earth, a woman changed into a man.

How long will you be absorbed in delights, O wandering daughter? For the Lord has created something new upon the earth: a woman will encompass a man.”

23 So the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, Again will these words be used in the land of Judah and in its towns, when I have let their fate be changed: May the blessing of the Lord be on you, O resting-place of righteousness, O holy mountain.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Still they will speak this word in the land of Judah, and in its cities, when I will convert their captivity: ‘May the Lord bless you, the beauty of justice, the holy mountain.’

24 And Judah and all its towns will be living there together; the farmers and those who go about with flocks.

And they will live in it: Judah together with all its cities, the farmer and those who drive the flocks.

25 For I have given new strength to the tired soul and to every sorrowing soul in full measure.

For I have inebriated the weary soul, and I have satisfied every hungry soul.

26 At this, awaking from my sleep, I saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

Over this, I was awakened, as if from a deep sleep. And I saw, and my sleep became sweet to me.

27 See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will have Israel and Judah planted with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.

Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and with the offspring of cattle.

28 And it will come about that, as I have been watching over them for the purpose of uprooting and smashing down and overturning and sending destruction and causing trouble; so I will be watching over them for the purpose of building up and planting, says the Lord.

And just as I have watched over them, so that I may root up, and tear down, and scatter, and destroy, and afflict, so will I watch over them, so that I may build and plant them, says the Lord.

29 In those days they will no longer say, The fathers have been tasting bitter grapes and the children's teeth are put on edge.

In those days, they will no longer say: ‘The fathers ate a bitter grape, and the teeth of the sons have been affected.’

30 But everyone will be put to death for the evil which he himself has done: whoever has taken bitter grapes will himself have his teeth put on edge.

Instead, each one will die for his own iniquity. Each man who will have eaten a bitter grape, his own teeth will be affected.

31 See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah:

Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will form a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

32 Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; which agreement was broken by them, and I gave them up, says the Lord.

not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand, so as to lead them away from the land of Egypt, the covenant which they nullified, though I was the ruler over them, says the Lord.

33 But this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my law in their inner parts, writing it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

But this will be the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel, after those days, says the Lord: I will give my law to their inner most being, and I will write it upon their heart. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34 And no longer will they be teaching every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, Get knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord: for they will have my forgiveness for their evil-doing, and their sin will go from my memory for ever.

And they will no longer teach, a man his neighbor, and a man his brother, saying: ‘Know the Lord.’ For all will know me, from the littlest of them even to the greatest, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will no longer remember their sin.

35 These are the words of the Lord, who has given the sun for a light by day, ordering the moon and stars for a light by night, who puts the sea in motion, causing the thunder of its waves; the Lord of armies is his name.

Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun as the light of the day, who puts the moon and the stars in order as the light of the night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar: the Lord of hosts is his name.

36 If the order of these things before me is ever broken, says the Lord, then will the seed of Israel come to an end as a nation before me for ever.

If these laws fail in my sight, says the Lord, then the offspring of Israel will also fail, so that they will not be a people in my sight for all time.”

37 This is what the Lord has said: If the heavens on high may be measured, and the bases of the earth searched out, then I will give up the seed of Israel, because of all they have done, says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above are able to be measured, and if the foundations of the earth beneath can be examined, I also will cast aside all the offspring of Israel, because of all that they have done, says the Lord.

38 See, the days are coming, says the Lord, for the building of the Lord's town, from the tower of Hananel to the doorway of the angle.

Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when a city will be built for the Lord from the tower of Hananel, even to the Gate of the Corner;

39 And the measuring-line will go out in front of it as far as the hill Gareb, going round to Goah.

and the measuring line will go on even further in his sight, over the hill of Gareb, and it will encircle Goah

40 And all the valley of the dead bodies, and all the field of death as far as the stream Kidron, up to the angle of the horses' doorway to the east, will be holy to the Lord; it will not again be uprooted or overturned for ever.

and the entire Valley of dead bodies and ashes, and the entire region of death, even to the torrent of Kedron, and to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east. All this will be the holy place of the Lord. It will not be rooted up, and it will not be torn down, anymore, forever.”