Jer 31 | NASB2020 | 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 This is what the Lord says:
“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 ^{▼▼Or from far away}long ago, saying,
“I have ^gloved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you out with ^hkindness.
4 “ ⁱI will build you again and you will be rebuilt,
Virgin of Israel!
You will ^{▼▼Lit adorn yourself with}take up your ^ktambourines again,
And go out to the dances of the ^lrevelers.
5 “Again you will ^mplant vineyards
On the ^{▼▼Or mountains}hills of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And will ^{▼▼Lit defile}enjoy the fruit.
6 “For there will be a day when watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim call out,
‘Arise, and ^plet’s go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’”

7 For this is what the Lord says:
“ ^qSing aloud with joy for Jacob,
And be joyful with the ^{▼▼Lit head
,} ^schief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘Lord, ^tsave Your people,
The ^uremnant of Israel!’
8 “Behold, I am ^vbringing them from the north country,
And I will ^wgather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them those who are ^xblind and those who ^ylimp,
The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
They will return here as a great assembly.
9 “ ^zThey will come with weeping,
And by pleading I will bring them;
I will lead them by ^aastreams of waters,
On a straight path on which they will ^abnot stumble;
For I am a ^acfather to Israel,
And Ephraim is ^adMy firstborn.”

10 Hear the word of the Lord, you nations,
And declare it in the ^aecoastlands far away,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will ^afgather him,
And He will 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, the new wine, 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 comfort them, and give them ^atjoy for their sorrow.
14 “I will refresh the soul of the priests with ^{▼▼Lit fatness}abundance,
And My people will be ^avsatisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

15 This is what the Lord says:
“ ^awA voice is heard in ^axRamah,
Lamenting and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She ^ayrefuses to be comforted for her children,
Because ^azthey are no more.”
16 This is what the Lord says:

“ ^baRestrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears;
For your ^bbwork will be rewarded,” declares the Lord,
“And they will ^bcreturn from the land of the enemy.
17 “There is ^bdhope for your future,” declares the Lord,
“And your children will return to their own territory.
18 “I have certainly heard Ephraim ^begrieving,
‘You have ^bfdisciplined me, and I was corrected,
Like an untrained ^bgcalf;
^bhBring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
19 ‘For after I turned back, I ^birepented;
And after I was instructed, I ^{▼▼I.e., in regret
,} ^bkslapped my thigh;
I was ^blashamed and also humiliated
Because I bore the shame 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 certainly ^bphave mercy on him,” declares the Lord.

21 “Set up roadmarks for yourself,
Place guideposts for yourself;
^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 waver,
You ^btrebellious daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
A woman will shelter a man.”
23 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I ^burestore their fortunes,

‘The Lord bless you, O ^bvplace of righteousness,
O ^bwholy hill!’
24 Judah and all its cities will ^bxlive together in it, the farmers and those who travel with flocks. 25 ^byFor I give plenty of water to the weary ones, and ^{▼▼Lit fill}refresh everyone who languishes.” 26 At this I ^caawoke and looked, and my ^cbsleep had been pleasant to me.

A New Covenant

27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will ^ccsow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have ^cdwatched over them to ^ceuproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to ^cfbuild and to plant them,” declares the Lord.

29 “In those days they will no longer say,
‘ ^cgThe fathers have eaten sour grapes,
^{▼▼I.e., the children suffer for the fathers’ sins}But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt.’
30 But ^cieveryone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.

31 “ ^cjBehold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a ^cknew covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the ^clcovenant which I made with their fathers on the day I ^cmtook them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ^cncovenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “For ^cothis is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “ ^cpI will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and ^cqI will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will ^crnot teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all ^csknow Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will ^ctforgive their wrongdoing, and their ^cusin I will no longer remember.”

35 This is what the Lord says,
He who ^cvgives the sun for light by day
And the ^{▼▼Lit statutes}fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who ^cxstirs up the sea so that its waves roar--
^cyThe Lord of armies is His name:
36 “ ^czIf ^{▼▼Lit these statutes}this fixed order departs
From Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the descendants of Israel also will ^dbcease
To be a nation before Me ^{▼▼Lit all the days}forever.”
37 This is what the Lord says:
“ ^ddIf the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also ^dereject all the descendants of Israel
For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord.
38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the ^dfcity will be rebuilt for the Lord from the ^dgTower of Hananel to the ^dhCorner Gate. 39 The ^dimeasuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 And ^djthe entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook ^dkKidron to the corner of the ^dlHorse Gate toward the east, shall be ^dmholy to the Lord; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again.”