Jeremiah 31
1 At that time, Declareth Yahweh, I will become a God, to all the families of Israel; And, they, shall become my people.
At that time, I will be the God of all Israel's families, and they will be my people, declares the Lord.
2 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.
This is what the Lord says: The Israelites who survive death by the sword were blessed by the Lord in the desert as they looked for peace and quiet.
3 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.
Long ago the Lord came and told us, My love for you will last forever. I hold you close to me with my trustworthy love.
4 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:
I'm going to rebuild you, and it will happen. You will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will pick up your tambourines again and run outside to dance with joy.
5 Again, shalt thou plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria, The planters have planted, and have laid open the vineyards,
You will replant vineyards on Samaria's hills; those who plant and will enjoy the grapes.
6 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.
A day is coming when watchmen will call out from the hills of Ephraim, “Come on, let's go up to Zion, to worship the Lord our God!”
7 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.
This is what the Lord says: Sing happily for the descendants of Jacob; shout for the greatest of all nations! Let everybody know! Praise and call out, “Lord, save your people, those who are left of Israel!”
8 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:
Watch, because I will bring them back from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Everyone will return, even the blind and the lame, pregnant women, even mothers giving birth—a great gathering coming home,
9 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!
They will come back with tears in their eyes, and they will be praying as I take them home. I will lead them beside streams of waters, on level paths where they won't stumble. For I am Israel's Father; Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 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;
Listen, nations, to what the Lord has to say, and let others know about in faraway countries: The Lord who scattered Israel will gather them together and keep them safe, just like a shepherd looks after his flock.
11 For Yahweh hath ransomed Jacob, —And redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he.
The Lord has redeemed the descendants of Jacob and rescued them from their enemies who had defeated them.
12 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.
They will return and celebrate with happy shouts on Mount Zion; their faces will beam over the Lord's wonderful gifts—the grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the young of their flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden; and they won't ever be depressed again.
13 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;
The girls will dance in celebration; young men and old people will join in too. I will turn their sorrow into joy, and I will comfort them and change their sadness into happiness.
14 Then will I satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, And my people with my goodness, shall be satisfied, Declareth Yahweh.
I will give my priests everything they need and more, and my people will be more than satisfied with my goodness towards them, declares the Lord.
15 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!
This is what the Lord says: The sound of terrible weeping and mourning is heard in Ramah. It's Rachel crying for her children. They are dead, and she can't be comforted
16 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:
This is what the Lord says: Don't cry anymore, don't weep anymore, because you're going to be rewarded for what you've done, declares the Lord. Your children will return from the country of your enemies.
17 Yea there is hope for thy future Declareth Yahweh, —And thy sons shall return to their own boundary.
So you can have hope for the future, declares the Lord. Your children will return to their own country.
18 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.
Don't worry, I've heard Ephraim's groans, saying, “You disciplined me really hard as if I was a calf that hadn't been trained. Please bring me back, let me return, for you are the Lord my God.
19 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.
When I came back to you I was sorry, and once I understood, I held my head in sadness. I was ashamed and I blushed, embarrassed at what I'd done when I was young.”
20 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.
But isn't Ephraim still my precious son, my lovely child? Even though I often have to scold him, I can't forget him. So I'm torn inside with longing, wanting to show how much I care about him! declares the Lord.
21 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.
Put up markers on the road; make signposts for yourselves. You need to be sure you can find the highway, the road you traveled on. Come back, Virgin Israel, come back to your towns.
22 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!
How long are you going to waver in your decision, you unfaithful daughter? For the Lord has made something new happen here: a woman is going to protect a man.
23 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!
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: When I bring them back home from exile, they will say again in the land of Judah and in its towns: “May the Lord bless you, holy mountain of Jerusalem, home of what is good and right.
24 Then shall there dwell throughout Judah itself and all the cities thereof, together, —Husbandmen, who shall move about with a flock;
The people of Judah and all its towns will live together in the land, the farmers and those who move around with their flocks,
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, —And every languishing soul, have I filled.
because I'm going to give rest to those who are tired and give strength to all those who are weak.”
26 Upon this, I awoke and considered, —And, my sleep, had been sweet to me!
At this I woke up and looked around. I'd had a very pleasant sleep.
27 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;
Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make the numbers of people and livestock grow in Israel and Judah.
28 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.
I took care of them by uprooting them and tearing them down, by wiping them out and destroying them and bringing them disaster. Now I will take care of them by building them up and helping them grow, declares the Lord.
29 In those days, shall they say no more, Fathers, did eat sour grapes, —And, children’s teeth, are blunted!
At that time people won't repeat this proverb, “The fathers ate the unripe grapes, but their children got the sour taste.”
30 But, every one, for his own iniquity, shall die, —Any human being who eateth the sour grapes, his own teeth, shall be blunted.
No. Each person will die because of their own sins. If anyone eats unripe grapes, they will get the sour taste themselves.
31 Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, —When I will solemnize—With the house of Israel and With the house of Judah, A new covenant:
Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.
32 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.
It won't be like the agreement that I made with their forefathers when I held their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I was faithful like a husband to them, declares the Lord.
33 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.
But this is the agreement I'm going to make with the people of Israel at that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws inside them and write them in their minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 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.
No one will need to teach a neighbor or their brother, telling them, “You ought to know the Lord.” For everyone will know me, from the smallest to the greatest. I will forgive them when they do wrong, and I will forget about their sins.
35 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: —
This is what the Lord says, who provides the sun to give light during the day, who places in order the moon and stars to give light at night, who makes the sea rough so that its waves roar; his name is the Lord Almighty:
36 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,
Only if I allowed this order to fell apart, declares the Lord, would Israel's descendants stop being my people.
37 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.
This is what the Lord says: Only if the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth below could be investigated, would I reject all of Israel's descendants because of everything they've done, declares the Lord.
38 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;
The time is coming, declares the Lord, when this city will be rebuilt for the Lord, all the way from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 Then shall go forth again the measuring-line straight forward, Over the hill Gareb, And it shall go round to Goah;
The builder's measuring line will again stretch out directly to Gareb Hill and then turn toward Goah.
40 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.
The entire valley, where the dead are buried and the trash is dumped, and all the fields from the Kidron Valley as far as the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the Lord. Jerusalem will never again be torn down or destroyed.
