Jeremiah 31

1 At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

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

2 Thus saith the Lord, The people which escaped the sworde, founde grace in the wildernes: he walked before Israel to cause him to rest.

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.

3 The Lord hath appeared vnto me of old, say they: Yea, I haue loued thee with an euerlasting loue, therefore with mercie I haue drawen thee.

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.

4 Againe I will builde thee, and thou shalt be builded, O virgine Israel: thou shalt stil be adorned with thy timbrels, and shalt goe foorth in the dance of them that be ioyfull.

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.

5 Thou shalt yet plant vines vpon the mountaines of Samaria, and the planters that plant them, shall make them common.

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

6 For the dayes shall come that the watchmen vpon the mount of Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let vs go vp vnto Zion to the Lord our God.

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.

7 For thus saith the Lord, Reioyce with gladnesse for Iaakob, and shoute for ioye among the chiefe of the Gentiles: publish praise, and say, O Lord, saue thy people, the remnant of Israel.

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.

8 Beholde, I will bring them from the North countrey, and gather them from the coastes of the world, with the blinde and the lame among them, with the woman with childe, and her that is deliuered also: a great companie shall returne hither.

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.

9 They shall come weeping, and with mercie will I bring them againe: I will lead them by the riuers of water in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first borne.

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.

10 Heare the worde of the Lord, O ye Gentiles, and declare in the yles afarre off, and say, Hee that scattered Israel, wil gather him and wil keepe him, as a shepheard doeth his flocke.

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.

11 For the Lord hath redeemed Iaakob, and ransomed him from the hande of him, that was stronger then he.

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

12 Therefore they shall come, and reioyce in the height of Zion, and shall runne to the bountifulnes of the Lord, euen for the wheat and for the wine, and for the oyle, and for the increase of sheepe, and bullocks: and their soule shalbe as a watered garden, and they shall haue no more sorow.

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.

13 Then shall ye virgine reioyce in the dance, and the yong men and the old men together: for I wil turne their mourning into ioy, and wil comfort them, and giue them ioy for their sorowes.

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.

14 And I wil replenish the soule of the Priests with fatnesse, and my people shalbe satisfied with my goodnesse, saith the Lord.

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

15 Thus saith the Lord, A voyce was heard on hie, a mourning and bitter weeping. Rahel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

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.

16 Thus saith the Lord, Refraine thy voyce from weeping, and thine eyes from teares: for thy worke shalbe rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come againe from the land of the enemie:

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.

17 And there is hope in thine ende, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come againe to their owne borders.

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

18 I haue heard Ephraim lamenting thus, Thou hast corrected me, and I was chastised as an vntamed calfe: conuert thou me, and I shalbe conuerted: for thou art the Lord my God.

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.

19 Surely after that I conuerted, I repented: and after that I was instructed, I smote vpon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, euen confounded, because I did beare the reproch of my youth.

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.

20 Is Ephraim my deare sonne or pleasant childe? yet since I spake vnto him, I still remembred him: therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I wil surely haue compassion vpon him, saith the Lord.

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.

21 Set thee vp signes: make thee heapes: set thine heart towarde the path and way, that thou hast walked: turne againe, O virgine of Israel: turne againe to these thy cities.

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.

22 How long wilt thou goe astray, O thou rebellious daughter? for the Lord hath created a newe thing in the earth: A WOMAN shall compasse a man.

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.

23 Thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Yet shall they say this thing in the land of Iudah, and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring againe their captiuitie, The Lord blesse thee, O habitation of iustice and holy mountaine.

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.

24 And Iudah shall dwell in it, and all the cities thereof together, the husbandmen and they that goe foorth with the flocke.

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

25 For I haue saciate the wearie soule, and I haue replenished euery sorowfull soule.

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

26 Therefore I awaked and behelde, and my sleepe was sweete vnto me.

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

27 Beholde, the dayes come, saith the Lord, that I will sowe the house of Israel, and the house of Iudah with the seede of man and with the seede of beast.

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.

28 And like as I haue watched vpon them, to plucke vp and to roote out, and to throw downe, and to destroy, and to plague them, so wil I watch ouer them, to build and to plant them, saith ye Lord.

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.

29 In those dayes shall they say no more, The fathers haue eaten a sowre grape, and the childrens teeth are set on edge.

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

30 But euery one shall die for his owne iniquitie: euery man that eateth the sowre grape, his teeth shalbe set on edge.

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.

31 Beholde, the dayes come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new couenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Iudah,

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:

32 Not according to ye couenant that I made with their fathers, when I tooke them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, the which my couenant they brake, although I was an husband vnto them, saith the Lord.

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.

33 But this shall be the couenant that I will make with the house of Israel, After those dayes, saith the Lord, I will put my Lawe in their inward partes, and write it in their hearts, and wil be their God, and they shalbe my people.

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.

34 And they shall teach no more euery man his neighbour and euery man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me from the least of them vnto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I wil forgiue their iniquitie, and will remember their sinnes no more.

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.

35 Thus saith the Lord, which giueth the sunne for a light to the day, and the courses of the moone and of the starres for a light to the night, which breaketh the sea, when the waues thereof roare: his Name is the Lord of hostes.

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.

36 If these ordinances depart out of my sight, saith the Lord, then shall the seede of Israel cease from being a nation before me, for euer.

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.

37 Thus saith the Lord, If the heauens can be measured, or the fundations of the earth be searched out beneath, then wil I cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they haue done, saith the Lord.

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.

38 Behold, the dayes come, saith the Lord, that the citie shalbe built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel, vnto the gate of the corner.

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.

39 And the line of the measure shall go foorth in his presence vpon the hil Gareb, and shall compasse about to Goath.

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

40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields vnto the brooke of Kidron, and vnto the corner of the horsegate toward the East, shalbe holy vnto the Lord, neither shall it be plucked vp nor destroyed any more for euer.

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.