Jer 28, Jer 31 | ESV | STEP | In that same year , at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah , in the fifth month of the fourth year , Hananiah the son of Azzur , the prophet from Gibeon , spoke to me in the house of the Lord , in the presence of the priests and all the people , saying ,

1 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of ^aZedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of ^bAzzur, the prophet from ^cGibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^dI have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 ^eWithin ^ftwo years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place ^gJeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, ^hfor I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, ⁱ“Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. 7 Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 ^jThe prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 ^kAs for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the ^lyoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. 11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, ^m“Thus says the Lord: ⁿEven so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of ^oall the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

12 Sometime after the prophet ^pHananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron. 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations ^qan iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^rand they shall serve him, ^sfor I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’” 15 And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, ^tthe Lord has not sent you, ^uand you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, ^vbecause you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’”

17 In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

Jeremiah 31

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

1 ^w“At that time, declares the Lord, ^xI will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
^ywhen Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew me} from far away.
^aaI have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore ^abI have continued ^acmy faithfulness to you.
4 ^adAgain I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
^aeAgain you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in ^afthe dance of the merrymakers.
5 ^agAgain you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
and shall enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
in ^ahthe hill country of Ephraim:
^ai‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’”
7 For thus says the Lord:
^aj“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for ^akthe chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
^al‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them ^amfrom the north country
and ^angather them from ^aothe farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^apthe blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 ^aqWith weeping they shall come,
^arand with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^aswalk by brooks of water,
^atin a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^auI am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is ^avmy firstborn.
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^awgather him,
and will keep him ^axas a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 ^ayFor the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from ^azhands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
^baand they shall be radiant ^bbover the goodness of the Lord,
^bcover the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^bdtheir life shall be like a watered garden,
^beand they shall languish no more.
13 ^bfThen shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^bgI will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 ^bhI will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

declares the Lord.”
15 Thus says the Lord:
^bi“A voice is heard in ^bjRamah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
^bkRachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
^blbecause they are no more.”
16 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,

declares the Lord,
and ^bmthey shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 ^bnThere is hope for your future,

declares the Lord,
and your children shall come back to their own country.
18 I have heard ^boEphraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
like an untrained calf;
^bpbring me back that I may be restored,
for you are the Lord my God.
19 For after ^bqI had turned away, I relented,
and after I was instructed, ^brI struck my thigh;
^bsI was ashamed, and I was confounded,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 ^btIs Ephraim my dear son?
^buIs he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
^bvTherefore my heart ^{▼▼Hebrew bowels} yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the Lord.
21 ^bx“Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts;
^byconsider well the highway,
^bzthe road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
return to these your cities.
22 ^caHow long will you waver,
^cbO faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
a woman encircles a man.”
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, ^ccwhen I restore their fortunes:

^cd“‘The Lord bless you, ^ceO habitation of righteousness,
^cfO holy hill!’
24 ^cgAnd Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ^chthe farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will ^cisatisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27 ^cj“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^ckI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ^clthe seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that ^cmas I have watched over them ^cnto pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, ^coso I will watch over them ^cpto build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

^cq“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 ^crBut everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

The New Covenant

31 ^cs“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make ^cta new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when ^cuI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, ^cvthough I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 ^cwFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: ^cxI will put my law within them, and I will write it ^cyon their hearts. ^czAnd I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ ^dafor they shall all know me, ^dbfrom the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For ^dcI will forgive their iniquity, and ^ddI will remember their sin no more.”

35 Thus says the Lord,
who ^degives the sun for light by day
and ^dfthe fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
^dgthe Lord of hosts is his name:
36 ^dh“If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the Lord,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever.”
37 Thus says the Lord:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
^dithen I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,

declares the Lord.”
38 ^dj“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord ^dkfrom the Tower of Hananel to ^dlthe Corner Gate. 39 ^dmAnd the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 ^dnThe whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the ^dobrook Kidron, to the corner of ^dpthe Horse Gate toward the east, ^dqshall be sacred to the Lord. ^drIt shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”