Jer 19, Jer 31 | ESV | STEP | Thus says the Lord , Go , buy a potter’s earthenware flask , and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests ,

1 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy ^aa potter’s earthenware ^bflask, and take some of ^cthe elders of the people and some of ^dthe elders of the priests, 2 and go out ^eto the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3 You shall say, ^f‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^gO kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that ^hthe ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 ⁱBecause the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; ^jand because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 ^kand have built the high places of Baal ^lto burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, ^mwhich I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— 6 therefore, ⁿbehold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or ^othe Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And in this place ^pI will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, ^qand will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. ^rI will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city ^sa horror, ^ta thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 ^uAnd I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor ^vin the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’

10 “Then ^wyou shall break ^xthe flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, ^yas one breaks a potter’s vessel, ^zso that it can never be mended. ^aaMen shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12 Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city ^ablike Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah— ^acall the houses on whose ^adroofs offerings have been offered ^aeto all the host of heaven, and ^afdrink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled ^aglike the place of Topheth.’”

14 Then Jeremiah came from ^ahTopheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, ^aiand he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people: 15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, ^ajbecause they have stiffened their neck, ^akrefusing to hear my words.”

Jeremiah 31

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

1 ^al“At that time, declares the Lord, ^amI 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;
^anwhen Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew me} from far away.
^apI have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore ^aqI have continued ^army faithfulness to you.
4 ^asAgain I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
^atAgain you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in ^authe dance of the merrymakers.
5 ^avAgain 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 ^awthe hill country of Ephraim:
^ax‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’”
7 For thus says the Lord:
^ay“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for ^azthe chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
^ba‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them ^bbfrom the north country
and ^bcgather them from ^bdthe farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^bethe blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 ^bfWith weeping they shall come,
^bgand with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^bhwalk by brooks of water,
^biin a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^bjI am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is ^bkmy firstborn.
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^blgather him,
and will keep him ^bmas a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 ^bnFor the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from ^bohands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
^bpand they shall be radiant ^bqover the goodness of the Lord,
^brover the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^bstheir life shall be like a watered garden,
^btand they shall languish no more.
13 ^buThen shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^bvI will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 ^bwI 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:
^bx“A voice is heard in ^byRamah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
^bzRachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
^cabecause 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 ^cbthey shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 ^ccThere is hope for your future,

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

declares the Lord.
21 ^cm“Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts;
^cnconsider well the highway,
^cothe road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
return to these your cities.
22 ^cpHow long will you waver,
^cqO 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, ^crwhen I restore their fortunes:

^cs“‘The Lord bless you, ^ctO habitation of righteousness,
^cuO holy hill!’
24 ^cvAnd Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ^cwthe farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will ^cxsatisfy 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 ^cy“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^czI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ^dathe seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that ^dbas I have watched over them ^dcto pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, ^ddso I will watch over them ^deto build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

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

The New Covenant

31 ^dh“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make ^dia 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 ^djI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, ^dkthough I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 ^dlFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: ^dmI will put my law within them, and I will write it ^dnon their hearts. ^doAnd 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,’ ^dpfor they shall all know me, ^dqfrom the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For ^drI will forgive their iniquity, and ^dsI will remember their sin no more.”

35 Thus says the Lord,
who ^dtgives the sun for light by day
and ^duthe fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
^dvthe Lord of hosts is his name:
36 ^dw“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,
^dxthen I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,

declares the Lord.”
38 ^dy“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord ^dzfrom the Tower of Hananel to ^eathe Corner Gate. 39 ^ebAnd the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 ^ecThe whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the ^edbrook Kidron, to the corner of ^eethe Horse Gate toward the east, ^efshall be sacred to the Lord. ^egIt shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”