Jeremiah
Chapter 31
1 At that time, says God, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.
2 God says, “The people saved from the sword found kindness in the desert; this happened to Israel when I led them to a place of rest.”
3 God showed himself to me long ago and said, “Yes, I have loved you forever; that’s why I’ve brought you close with kindness.”
4 I will rebuild you, and you will be rebuilt, O Israel, young and pure. You will wear your tambourines again and dance with joy.
5 You will plant grapevines again on the mountains of Samaria: the people who plant them will eat the grapes like ordinary food.
6 A day will come when the guards on Mount Ephraim will shout, “Get up, let’s go to Zion to our God.”
7 God says, “Sing with joy for Jacob, and shout among the leaders of the nations. Share the news, praise, and say, ‘God, save your people, the remaining ones of Israel.’”
8 Look, I will bring them from the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Along with them will be the blind and the lame, pregnant women, and those giving birth. A large crowd will come back here.
9 They will come crying, and I will guide them with their prayers. I will lead them along paths beside flowing waters, on a straight road where they won’t trip, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my oldest child.
10 Listen to God’s message, all countries, and announce it on distant islands, saying, “He who spread out Israel will bring them back and watch over them like a shepherd with his sheep.”
11 God has saved Jacob and rescued him from someone stronger than him.
12 So they will come and sing on the heights of Zion, and gather to enjoy God’s blessings – for grain, wine, oil, and the young of sheep and cattle. Their lives will be like a well-watered garden; they will never grieve again.
13 The young woman will be happy dancing, and young and old men will join her: I will change their sadness to happiness, comfort them, and help them find joy instead of their grief.
14 I will satisfy the priests with rich food, and my people will be content with my kindness, says God.
15 God says: A sound was heard in Ramah, crying and loud sorrow; Rachel cried for her children and would not be comforted for her children because they were gone.
16 God says, “Stop crying and wipe your tears away, because your efforts will be rewarded by God; and they will return from the enemy’s land.”
17 God says you have hope for the future; your children will return to their own land.
18 I have certainly heard Ephraim feeling sorry for himself, saying, “You have disciplined me, and I’ve learned my lesson, like a young cow not used to the yoke. Help me change, and I will change, because you are my God.”
19 After I turned back, I was sorry; after I understood, I hit my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and embarrassed because I carried the shame of my young mistakes.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a delightful child? Because after I spoke against him, I still remember him fondly. So, I am deeply moved for him; I will definitely show him mercy, says God.
21 Set up signs for yourself, make tall piles of stones; keep your thoughts on the main road, the path you traveled. Come back, Israel’s young woman, come back to your towns.
22 How long will you wander, O disloyal daughter? For God has made something new on earth: a woman will embrace a man.
23 God, the ruler of all, the God of Israel, says: People will still use this language in Judah and its cities when I turn their fortunes around. God bless you, home of justice and holy mountain.
24 Farmers and people who care for flocks will live in Judah and all its cities.
25 I have satisfied the tired person, and I have filled up every sad person.
26 I woke up, looked around, and my sleep had been pleasant to me.
27 Look, the time will come, says God, that I will fill the people of Israel and Judah with many people and animals.
28 It will happen that just as I have watched over them to uproot, break down, throw away, destroy, and hurt, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says God.
29 In those days, people will no longer say, “The parents ate sour grapes, and now the children’s teeth feel rough.”
30 Everyone will die for their own wrongs: anyone who eats sour grapes will feel the effect on their teeth.
31 Look, the time will come, says God, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.
32 This is not like the promise I made with their ancestors when I led them by the hand out of Egypt; they broke my promise even though I was like a husband to them, says God.
33 This is the promise I will make with Israel’s people: After that time, says God, I will put my rules deep inside them, write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 People will no longer teach their neighbors or their brothers to know God, because everyone from the least to the greatest will know me, since I will forgive their wrongs and never remember their sins again.
35 God says, “I give the sun for light during the day, and the moon and stars for light at night. I stir up the sea to make its waves roar. My name is God of all.”
36 If those rules leave my presence, says God, then Israel’s descendants will no longer be a nation before me forever.
37 God says, “If the sky above can be measured and the earth’s foundations explored, then I will reject all of Israel’s descendants for what they have done,” says God.
38 Look, the time will come, God says, that the city will be rebuilt for God from Hananeel Tower to the Corner Gate.
39 The measuring line will still stretch out facing it, on the hill Gareb, and will go around to Goath.
40 The entire valley where dead bodies and ashes are, and all the land to Kidron stream, to the east by the Horse Gate, will be sacred to God; it will never be destroyed or disturbed again.