Jer 31:1-37, 32:36-41, 33:6-26, Eze 34:22-31, 36:8-15, 37:11-28 | ESV | STEP | At that time , declares the Lord , I will be the God of all the clans of Israel , and they shall be my people .

1 ^a“At that time, declares the Lord, ^bI 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;
^cwhen Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew me} from far away.
^eI have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore ^fI have continued ^gmy faithfulness to you.
4 ^hAgain I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
ⁱAgain you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in ^jthe dance of the merrymakers.
5 ^kAgain 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 ^lthe hill country of Ephraim:
^m‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’”
7 For thus says the Lord:
ⁿ“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for ^othe chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
^p‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them ^qfrom the north country
and ^rgather them from ^sthe farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^tthe blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 ^uWith weeping they shall come,
^vand with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^wwalk by brooks of water,
^xin a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^yI am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is ^zmy firstborn.
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^aagather him,
and will keep him ^abas a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 ^acFor the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from ^adhands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
^aeand they shall be radiant ^afover the goodness of the Lord,
^agover the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^ahtheir life shall be like a watered garden,
^aiand they shall languish no more.
13 ^ajThen shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^akI will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 ^alI 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:
^am“A voice is heard in ^anRamah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
^aoRachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
^apbecause 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 ^aqthey shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 ^arThere is hope for your future,

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

declares the Lord.
21 ^bb“Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts;
^bcconsider well the highway,
^bdthe road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
return to these your cities.
22 ^beHow long will you waver,
^bfO 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, ^bgwhen I restore their fortunes:

^bh“‘The Lord bless you, ^biO habitation of righteousness,
^bjO holy hill!’
24 ^bkAnd Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ^blthe farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will ^bmsatisfy 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 ^bn“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^boI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ^bpthe seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that ^bqas I have watched over them ^brto pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, ^bsso I will watch over them ^btto build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

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

The New Covenant

31 ^bw“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make ^bxa 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 ^byI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, ^bzthough I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 ^caFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: ^cbI will put my law within them, and I will write it ^ccon their hearts. ^cdAnd 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,’ ^cefor they shall all know me, ^cffrom the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For ^cgI will forgive their iniquity, and ^chI will remember their sin no more.”

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

declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 32:36-41

They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God

36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ^cn‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 ^coBehold, I will gather them from all the countries ^cpto which I drove them in ^cqmy anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, ^crand I will make them dwell in safety. 38 ^csAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 ^ctI will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, ^cufor their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 ^cvI will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. ^cwAnd I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 ^cxI will rejoice in doing them good, ^cyand I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

Jeremiah 33:6-26

6 ^czBehold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 ^daI will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, ^dband rebuild them as they were ^dcat first. 8 ^ddI will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, ^deand I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 ^dfAnd this city ^{▼▼Hebrew And it} shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall ^dhfear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

10 “Thus says the Lord: In this place ^diof which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11 ^djthe voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring ^dkthank offerings to the house of the Lord:

^dl“‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
for the Lord is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!’
^dmFor I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^dnIn this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be ^dohabitations of shepherds ^dpresting their flocks. 13 ^dqIn the cities of the hill country, ^drin the cities of the Shephelah, ^dsand in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, ^dtthe places about Jerusalem, ^duand in the cities of Judah, ^dvflocks shall again pass under the hands ^dwof the one who counts them, says the Lord.

The Lord’s Eternal Covenant with David

14 ^dx“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^dyI will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous ^dzBranch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, ^eaand Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ^eb‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

17 “For thus says the Lord: ^ecDavid shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 ^edand the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”

19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 ^ee“Thus says the Lord: ^efIf you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, ^egso that day and night will not come at their appointed time, 21 ^ehthen also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. 22 As ^eithe host of heaven cannot be numbered and ^ejthe sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25 Thus says the Lord: ^ekIf I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26 then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^elFor I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Ezekiel 34:22-31

22 I will rescue ^{▼▼Or save} my flock; ^enthey shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 And ^eoI will set up over them one shepherd, ^epmy servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And ^eqI, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. ^erI am the Lord; I have spoken.

The Lord’s Covenant of Peace

25 ^es“I will make with them a covenant of peace and ^etbanish wild beasts from the land, ^euso that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 And I will make them and the places all around my hill ^eva blessing, and ^ewI will send down the showers in their season; they shall be ^exshowers of blessing. 27 ^eyAnd the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, ^ezand they shall be secure in their land. And ^fathey shall know that I am the Lord, when ^fbI break the bars of their yoke, and ^fcdeliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 ^fdThey shall no more be a prey to the nations, ^fenor shall the beasts of the land devour them. ^ffThey shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29 And I will provide for them ^fgrenowned plantations so that ^fhthey shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer ^fisuffer the reproach of the nations. 30 And they shall know that ^fjI am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. 31 And you are my sheep, ^fkhuman sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 36:8-15

8 “But you, O mountains of Israel, ^flshall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for ^fmthey will soon come home. 9 For ^fnbehold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and ^foyou shall be tilled and sown. 10 And ^fpI will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. ^fqThe cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. 11 And I will multiply on you ^frman and beast, and ^fsthey shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in ^ftyour former times, and ^fuwill do more good to you than ever before. ^fvThen you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. ^fwAnd they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer ^fxbereave them of children. 13 Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ^fy‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. 15 And I will not let you hear anymore ^fzthe reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 37:11-28

11 Then he said to me, ^ga“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and ^gbour hope is lost; ^gcwe are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore ^gdprophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^geI will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And ^gfI will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ^ggyou shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And ^ghI will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; ^giI have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

I Will Be Their God, They Shall Be My People

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 ^gj“Son of man, ^gktake a stick ^{▼▼Or one piece of wood; also verses 17, 19, 20} and write on it, ‘For ^gmJudah, and ^gnthe people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For ^goJoseph (the stick of ^gpEphraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And ^gqjoin them one to another into one stick, that ^grthey may become ^gsone in your hand. 18 And when ^gtyour people say to you, ^gu‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take ^gvthe stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the ^gwstick of Judah, ^{▼▼Hebrew And I will place them on it, the stick of Judah} and ^gymake them one stick, ^gzthat they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand ^habefore their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^hbI will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and ^hcbring them to their own land. 22 And ^hdI will make them one nation in the land, on ^hethe mountains of Israel. And ^hfone king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer ^hgtwo nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 ^hhThey shall not ^hidefile themselves anymore ^hjwith their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But ^hkI will save them from all the backslidings ^{▼▼Many Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts dwellings} in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and ^hmthey shall be my people, and I will be their God.

24 “My servant ^hnDavid ^hoshall be king over them, and they shall all have ^hpone shepherd. ^hqThey shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 ^hrThey shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there ^hsforever, and David my servant shall be their prince ^htforever. 26 ^huI will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be ^hvan everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land ^{▼▼Hebrew lacks in their land} and ^hxmultiply them, and will ^hyset my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 ^hzMy dwelling place shall be with them, ^iaand I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then ^ibthe nations will know that ^icI am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when ^idmy sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”