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.
At that time, Declareth Yahweh, I will become a God, to all the families of Israel; And, they, shall become 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, saith Yahweh, —There hath found favour in the desert people escaped from the sword, —I must go to cause him, even Israel, to 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.
From afar, Yahweh hath appeared unto me, Yea with an age-abiding love, have I loved thee, For this cause, have I prolonged to thee lovingkindness.
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.
Again, will I build thee and thou shalt be built, thou virgin, Israel, —Again, shalt thou deck thyself with thy timbrels, And go forth in the dance of them that make merry:
5 Again will your vine-gardens be planted on the hill of Samaria: the planters will be planting and using the fruit.
Again, shalt thou plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria, The planters have planted, and have laid open the vineyards,
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 it is a day the watchmen have proclaimed throughout the hill country of Ephraim, —Arise ye and let us go up to Zion, unto Yahweh 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, saith Yahweh—Shout ye for Jacob with gladness, Make shrill thy voice, as the head of the nations, —Publish ye praise ye and say, Save thou O Yahweh thy 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 me bringing them in out of the land of the North, And I will gather them out of the remote parts of the earth, Among them, the blind and the lame The woman with child and she that giveth birth, together, —A great convocation, shall return hither:
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.
With weeping, shall they come in, And with supplications, will I lead them, I will bring them unto rivers of waters By a smooth way, wherein they shall not stumble, —For I have become, to Israel, a father, And as for Ephraim, my firstborn, is he!
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.
Hear ye the word of Yahweh, O ye nations, And declare ye in the Coastlands, afar off, —And say—He that scattereth Israel, will gather him, And watch over him as a shepherd 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 Yahweh hath ransomed Jacob, —And redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he.
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.
Then shall they come in and shall shout in triumph on the height of Zion, And shall stream unto the goodness of Yahweh To the wheat, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flocks and of the herds, —So shall their soul become like a garden well watered, And they shall not again languish any more.
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 shall the virgin rejoice, in the dance, And young men and elders [rejoice] together, And I will turn their mourning into gladness and will comfort them, And will make them rejoice from 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.
Then will I satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, And my people with my goodness, shall be satisfied, Declareth Yahweh.
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, saith Yahweh—A voice, in Ramah, is heard, Wailing, bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, —She refuseth to be comforted for her children, For 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, saith Yahweh—Restrain thy voice from weeping, And thine eyes from tears, —For there is a reward for thy labour, Declareth Yahweh, So they shall 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.
Yea there is hope for thy future Declareth Yahweh, —And thy sons shall return to their own boundary.
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.
I have, heard, Ephraim bemoaning himself, Thou hast chastised me and I have been chastised, Like a bullock, not broken in, Suffer me to return that I may return, For thou, art Yahweh 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.
Surely after my return, I was filled with regret, And after I came to know myself, I smote upon the thigh, —I turned pale and was even confounded For I had borne the reproach of my youthful days.
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.
Was Ephraim, a very precious son to me? Was he a most delightful child? For as often as I have spoken against him, I have, remembered, him again! For this cause, have my affections been deeply moved for him, I must have, compassion, upon him, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
Erect thee waymarks Set thee up finger-posts, Apply thy heart to The highway—The road by which thou didst depart, —Return O virgin of Israel, Return unto these thy 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 wilt thou turn hither and thither, O apostate daughter? For Yahweh hath created a new thing in the earth, A female defendeth, a strong 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, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Again, shall they say this word, in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I cause their captivity to return, Yahweh, bless thee, Thou home of righteousness! Thou mountain of holiness!
24 And Judah and all its towns will be living there together; the farmers and those who go about with flocks.
Then shall there dwell throughout Judah itself and all the cities thereof, together, —Husbandmen, who shall move about with a flock;
25 For I have given new strength to the tired soul and to every sorrowing soul in full measure.
For I have satiated the weary soul, —And every languishing soul, have I filled.
26 At this, awaking from my sleep, I saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.
Upon this, I awoke and considered, —And, my sleep, had been 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.
Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh—That I will sow, The house of Israel, and The house of Judah, With the seed of men, and With the seed of beasts;
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 it shall come to pass, that—Just as I watched over them, to root up and to break down and to tear out and to destroy, and to break in pieces, So, will I watch over them, to build and to plant, Declareth Yahweh.
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, shall they say no more, Fathers, did eat sour grapes, —And, children’s teeth, are blunted!
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.
But, every one, for his own iniquity, shall die, —Any human being who eateth the sour grapes, his own teeth, shall be blunted.
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:
Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, —When I will solemnize—With the house of Israel and With the house of Judah, A new covenant:
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 like the covenant which I solemnised with their fathers, In the day when I grasped their hand, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt, —In that, they, brake my covenant Though, I, had become a husband unto them, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
For, this, is the covenant which I will solemnize with the house of Israel after those days Declareth Yahweh, I will put my law within them, Yea, on their heart, will I write it, —So will I become their God, And they shall become 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.
Then shall they no longer teach Every man his neighbour, and Every man his brother, saying, Know ye Yahweh, —For, they all, shall know me, From the least of them Even unto the greatest of them, Declareth Yahweh, For I will forgive their iniquity, And their sin, will I remember, no more.
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, saith Yahweh—Who hath given the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, —Who excited the sea, and the waves thereof roared Yahweh 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 ordinances depart from before me, Declareth Yahweh, —the seed of Israel also, may cease from being a nation before me, all the days,
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, saith Yahweh—If the heavens above can be measured, Or the foundations of the earth beneath, be searched out I also, may reject all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
Lo days, are coming, Declareth Yahweh, That the city shall be built for Yahweh, From the tower of Hananeel, [As far as] 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.
Then shall go forth again the measuring-line straight forward, Over the hill Gareb, And it shall go round to 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, all the vale of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron torrent-bed, as far as the horse-gate corner on the east, Shall be holy unto Yahweh, —It shall not be rooted up, nor thrown down, any more, unto times age-abiding.
