Jeremiah

The book of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 31, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 31 New English Translation

   1 At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel and they will be my people. I, the LORD, affirm it!"

Israel Will Be Restored and Join Judah in Worship

   2 The LORD says, "The people of Israel who survived death at the hands of the enemy will find favor in the wilderness as they journey to find rest for themselves.
   3 In a far-off land the LORD will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, 'I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.
   4 I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, so that you will once again be built up. Once again you will take up the tambourine and join in the happy throng of dancers.
   5 Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria. Those who plant them will once again enjoy their fruit.
   6 Yes, a time is coming when watchmen will call out on the mountains of Ephraim, "Come! Let us go to Zion to worship the LORD our God!"'"
   7 Moreover, the LORD says, "Sing for joy for the descendants of Jacob. Utter glad shouts for that foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard. Then say, 'LORD, rescue your people. Deliver those of Israel who remain alive.'
   8 Then I will reply, 'I will bring them back from the land of the north. I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth. Blind and lame people will come with them, so will pregnant women and women about to give birth. A vast throng of people will come back here.
   9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition. I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. I will lead them besides streams of water, along smooth paths where they will never stumble. I will do this because I am Israel's father; Ephraim is my firstborn son.'"
   10 Hear what the LORD has to say, O nations. Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea. Say, "The one who scattered Israel will regather them. He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock."
   11 For the LORD will rescue the descendants of Jacob. He will secure their release from those who had overpowered them.
   12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion. They will be radiant with joy over the good things the LORD provides, the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil, the young sheep and calves he has given to them. They will be like a well-watered garden and will not grow faint or weary any more.
   13 The LORD says, "At that time young women will dance and be glad. Young men and old men will rejoice. I will turn their grief into gladness. I will give them comfort and joy in place of their sorrow.
   14 I will provide the priests with abundant provisions. My people will be filled to the full with the good things I provide."
   15 The LORD says, "A sound is heard in Ramah, a sound of crying in bitter grief. It is the sound of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are gone."
   16 The LORD says to her, "Stop crying! Do not shed any more tears! For your heartfelt repentance will be rewarded. Your children will return from the land of the enemy. I, the LORD, affirm it!
   17 Indeed, there is hope for your posterity. Your children will return to their own territory. I, the LORD, affirm it!
   18 I have indeed heard the people of Israel say mournfully, 'We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. You disciplined us and we learned from it. Let us come back to you and we will do so, for you are the LORD our God.
   19 For after we turned away from you we repented. After we came to our senses we beat our breasts in sorrow. We are ashamed and humiliated because of the disgraceful things we did previously.'
   20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children. They are the children I take delight in. For even though I must often rebuke them, I still remember them with fondness. So I am deeply moved with pity for them and will surely have compassion on them. I, the LORD, affirm it!
   21 I will say, 'My dear children of Israel, keep in mind the road you took when you were carried off. Mark off in your minds the landmarks. Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. Return, my dear children of Israel. Return to these cities of yours.
   22 How long will you vacillate, you who were once like an unfaithful daughter? For I, the LORD, promise to bring about something new on the earth, something as unique as a woman protecting a man!'"

Judah Will Be Restored

   23 The LORD God of Israel who rules over all says, "I will restore the people of Judah to their land and to their towns. When I do, they will again say of Jerusalem, 'May the LORD bless you, you holy mountain, the place where righteousness dwells.'
   24 The land of Judah will be inhabited by people who live in its towns as well as by farmers and shepherds with their flocks.
   25 I will fully satisfy the needs of those who are weary and fully refresh the souls of those who are faint.
   26 Then they will say, 'Under these conditions I can enjoy sweet sleep when I wake up and look around.'"

Israel and Judah Will Be Repopulated

   27 "Indeed, a time is coming," says the LORD, "when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah. 28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted. I, the LORD, affirm it!"

The LORD Will Make a New Covenant with Israel and Judah

   29 "When that time comes, people will no longer say, 'The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children's teeth have grown numb.' 30 Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb.
   31 "Indeed, a time is coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them," says the LORD. 33 "But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land," says the LORD. "I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people.
   34 "People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me," says the LORD. "For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done."

The LORD Guarantees Israel's Continuance

   35 The LORD has made a promise to Israel. He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day and the moon and stars to give light by night. He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll. He promises it as the one who is known as the LORD who rules over all.
   36 The LORD affirms, "The descendants of Israel will not cease forever to be a nation in my sight. That could only happen if the fixed ordering of the heavenly lights were to cease to operate before me."
   37 The LORD says, "I will not reject all the descendants of Israel because of all that they have done. That could only happen if the heavens above could be measuredor the foundations of the earth below could all be explored," says the LORD.

Jerusalem Will Be Enlarged

   38 "Indeed a time is coming," says the LORD, "when the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt as my special city. It will be built from the Tower of Hananel westward to the Corner Gate. 39 The boundary line will extend beyond that, straight west from there to the Hill of Gareb and then turn southward to Goah. 40 The whole valley where dead bodies and sacrificial ashes are thrown and all the terraced fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far north as the Horse Gate will be included within this city that is sacred to the LORD. The city will never again be torn down or destroyed."

King James Version

   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.
   2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
   3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
   4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
   5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
   6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
   7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
   8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
   9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
   10 ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
   11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
   12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
   13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
   14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
   15 ¶ Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
   16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
   17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
   18 ¶ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
   19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
   20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
   21 ¶ Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
   22 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
   23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
   24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
   25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
   26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
   27 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
   28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
   29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
   30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
   31 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
   32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
   33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
   34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
   35 ¶ Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
   36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
   37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
   38 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
   39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
   40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.