Jer 31 | NASB1995 | STEP | “ At that time ,” declares the Lord , “I will be the God of all the families of Israel , and they shall be My people .”

Jeremiah 31

Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy

1 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the ^aGod of all the ^bfamilies of Israel, and they shall be My people.” 2 Thus says the Lord,
“The people who survived the sword
^cFound grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when it went to ^dfind its rest.”
3 The Lord appeared to ^{▼▼ Lit me}him from afar, saying,
“I have ^floved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with ^glovingkindness.
4 ^h“Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
Again you will ^{▼▼ Or be adorned with}take up your ^jtambourines,
And go forth to the dances of the ^kmerrymakers.
5 “Again you will ^lplant vineyards
On the ^{▼▼ Or mountains}hills of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And will ^{▼▼ Lit defile}enjoy them.
6 “For there will be a day when watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim call out,
‘Arise, and ^olet us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’”

7 For thus says the Lord,
^p“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the ^{▼▼ Lit head
,} ^rchief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise and say,
‘O Lord, ^ssave Your people,
The ^tremnant of Israel.’
8 “Behold, I am ^ubringing them from the north country,
And I will ^vgather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them the ^wblind and the ^xlame,
The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;
A great ^{▼▼ Or assembly}company, they will return here.
9 ^z“With weeping they will come,
And by supplication I will lead them;
I will make them walk by ^aastreams of waters,
On a straight path in which they will ^abnot stumble;
For I am a ^acfather to Israel,
And Ephraim is ^adMy firstborn.”

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare in the ^aecoastlands afar off,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will ^afgather him
And keep him as a ^agshepherd keeps his flock.”
11 For the Lord has ^ahransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was ^aistronger than he.
12 “They will ^ajcome and shout for joy on the ^akheight of Zion,
And they will be ^alradiant over the ^{▼▼ Lit goodness}bounty of the Lord—
Over the ^angrain and the new wine and the oil,
And over the young of the ^aoflock and the herd;
And their life will be like a ^apwatered garden,
And they will ^aqnever languish again.
13 “Then the virgin will rejoice in the ^ardance,
And the young men and the old, together,
For I will ^asturn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and give them ^atjoy for their sorrow.
14 “I will ^{▼▼ Lit saturate}fill the soul of the priests with ^{▼▼ Lit fatness}abundance,
And My people will be ^awsatisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

15 Thus says the Lord,
^ax“A voice is heard in ^ayRamah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She ^azrefuses to be comforted for her children,
Because ^bathey are no more.”

16 Thus says the Lord, ^bb“Restrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears;
For your ^bcwork will be rewarded,” declares the Lord,
“And they will ^bdreturn from the land of the enemy.
17 “There is ^behope for your future,” declares the Lord,
“And your children will return to their own territory.
18 “I have surely heard Ephraim ^bfgrieving,
‘You have ^bgchastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained ^bhcalf;
^biBring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
19 ‘For after I turned back, I ^bjrepented;
And after I was instructed, I ^bksmote on my thigh;
I was ^blashamed and also humiliated
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 “Is ^bmEphraim My dear son?
Is he a delightful child?
Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him;
Therefore My ^{▼▼ Lit inward parts
,} ^boheart yearns for him;
I will surely ^bphave mercy on him,” declares the Lord.

21 “Set up for yourself roadmarks,
Place for yourself guideposts;
^bqDirect your ^{▼▼ Lit heart}mind to the highway,
The way by which you went.
^bsReturn, O virgin of Israel,
Return to these your cities.
22 “How long will you go here and there,
O ^btfaithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—
A woman will encompass a man.”

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I ^burestore their ^{▼▼ Or captivity}fortunes, ‘The Lord bless you, O ^bwabode of righteousness,
O ^bxholy hill!’

24 “Judah and all its cities will ^bydwell together in it, the farmer and they who go about with flocks. 25 ^bz“For I satisfy the weary ones and ^{▼▼ Lit fill}refresh everyone who languishes.” 26 At this I ^cbawoke and looked, and my ^ccsleep was pleasant to me.

A New Covenant

27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will ^cdsow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. 28 “As I have ^cewatched over them to ^cfpluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to ^cgbuild and to plant,” declares the Lord. 29 “In those days they will not say again,
‘ ^chThe fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are ^{▼▼ Or dull}set on edge.’

30 “But ^cjeveryone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be ^{▼▼ Or dull}set on edge.

31 ^cl“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a ^cmnew covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the ^cncovenant which I made with their fathers in the day I ^cotook them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ^cpcovenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But ^cqthis is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, ^cr“I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and ^csI will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “They will ^ctnot teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all ^cuknow Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will ^cvforgive their iniquity, and their ^cwsin I will remember no more.” 35 Thus says the Lord,
Who ^cxgives the sun for light by day
And the ^{▼▼ Lit statutes}fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who ^czstirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
^daThe Lord of hosts is His name:
36 ^db“If ^{▼▼ Lit these statutes}this fixed order departs
From before Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the offspring of Israel also will ^ddcease
From being a nation before Me ^{▼▼ Lit all the days}forever.”

37 Thus says the Lord, ^df“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also ^dgcast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.

38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the ^dhcity will be rebuilt for the Lord from the ^diTower of Hananel to the ^djCorner Gate. 39 “The ^dkmeasuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 “And ^dlthe whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook ^dmKidron, to the corner of the ^dnHorse Gate toward the east, shall be ^doholy to the Lord; it will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”