Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered from Their Distress

30 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, ⌊saying⌋,a 2 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ⌊saying⌋,b ‘Write for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you in a scroll. 3 For look, days are coming,’ ⌊declares⌋c Yahweh, ‘when I will restore the fortunesd of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh, ‘and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestorse and they will take possession of it.’ ”

4 Now these are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 “For thus says Yahweh:

‘We have heard a sound of trembling,

terror, and there is no peace.

6 Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child.

Why do I see every strong man

with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth?

And why are all their faces changed to paleness?

7 Alas! For that day is great,

⌊there is none like it⌋.f

And it is a time of distress for Jacob,

yet from it he will be delivered.

8 And it will happen on that day,’ ⌊declares⌋g Yahweh of hosts,

‘I will break his yoke from your neck

and your bonds I will tear to pieces.

And strangers will no longer let him work as a slave.

9 But they will serve Yahweh their God,

and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

10 But you must not fear, my servant Jacob,’ ⌊declares⌋h Yahweh,

‘and you must not be dismayed, Israel,

for look, I am going to save you from far,

and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

And Jacob will return,

and he will be at rest,

and he will be at ease,

and there will be no one who makes himi afraid.

11 For I am with you,’ ⌊declares⌋j Yahweh, ‘to save you.

For I will make a complete destruction

of all the nations to which I scattered you,

but you I will not make a complete destruction.

And I will chastise you to the measure,

and I will not leave you entirely unpunished.’

12 For thus says Yahweh,

‘Your injury is incurable,

your wound is overcome by sickness.

13 There is no one who pleads your cause,

for your boil there is no healing for you.

14 All your lovers have forgotten you,

they do not care for you.

I have struck you with the blow of an enemy,

the punishment of the cruel,

because of the greatness of your guilt,

your sins are numerous.

15 Why do you cry because of your wound?

Your pain is incurable.

Because of the greatness of your guilt—your sins are vast—

I have done these things to you.

16 ⌊Therefore⌋k all those who devour you will be devoured,

and all your foes, all of them will go into captivity,

and those who plunder you will be as plunder,

and all those who plunder you I will make as plunder.

17 For I will present healing to you,

and I will heal you of your wounds,’ ⌊declares⌋l Yahweh.

‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying,

“It is Zion, there is no one who cares for her.” ’

18 Thus says Yahweh:

‘Look, I will restore the fortunesm of the tents of Jacob,

and I will have compassion on his dwellings,

and the city will be rebuilt upon its mound,

and the citadel fortress will stand on its rightful site.

19 And thanksgiving and the sound of merrymakers

will come out from them,

and I will make them numerous,

and they will not be few.

And I will make them honored,

and they will not be lowly.

20 And their children will be as of old,

and their community will be established ⌊before me⌋.n

And I will punish all their oppressors.

21 And their noble will be from them,

and their ruler will come out from their midst.

And I will bring him near and he will approach me.

For who is he that would pledge his heart to approach me?’ ⌊declares⌋o Yahweh.

22 ‘And you will be to me a people,

and I will be to you God.’ ”

23 Look, the storm of Yahweh!

Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest.

It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.

24 ⌊The burning anger of Yahweh⌋p will not turn back until his doing,

and until his accomplishing the plans of his ⌊mind⌋.q

In the last of the days you will understand it.

31 “At that time,” ⌊declares⌋a Yahweh,

“I will be the God of all the clansb of Israel,

and they will be to me a people.”

2 Thus says Yahweh:

“The people of the survivors of the sword found grace in the desert;c

Israel going to find their rest.”

3 From afar Yahweh appeared to me, saying,

“I have loved you with an everlasting love.

⌊Therefore⌋d I have drawn you with loyal love.

4 I will again build you,

and you will be built, O virgin Israel.

You will again adorn yourself with your tambourines,

and you will go forth in the dancing in a ring of the merrymakers.

5 You will again plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria.

The planters will plant, and they will enjoy it.e

6 For there will be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim,

‘Stand up, and let us go up to Zion, to Yahweh our God.’ ”

7 For thus says Yahweh,

“Sing for joy for Jacob with gladness,

and shout out for the head of the nations.

Proclaim, praise, and say,

‘Save, O Yahweh, your people, the remnant of Israel.’

8 Look, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,

and I will gather them from the remotest part of the earth.

Among them the blind, and the lame,

those who are pregnant, and those who give birth,

together, a great assembly,

they will return here.

9 With weeping they will come,

and with pleas for mercy I will bring them;

I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path.

They will not stumble in it,

for I have become to Israel a father,

and Ephraim, he is my firstborn.”

10 Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations,

and declare in the coastlands from afar, and say,

“The scatterer of Israel will gather him,

and he will keep him as a shepherd his flock.

11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,

and he has redeemed him from the hand of the person ⌊stronger⌋f than he.

12 And they will come,

and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion,

and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh,

over the grain, and over the wine, and over the olive oil,

and over the young ones of the flock, and over the cattle.

And their life will become like a well-watered garden,

and they will never languish again.”

13 “Then the young woman will rejoice in the dancing in a ring,

and the young men and the old men together.

And I will turn their mourning to jubilation,

and I will comfort them,

and I will gladden them from their sorrow.

14 And I will saturate the appetite of the priests with fatness,

and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” ⌊declares⌋g Yahweh.

15 Thus says Yahweh,

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

lamentation, the weeping of bitterness.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted because of her children,

for they are no more.”

16 Thus says Yahweh:

“Restrain your voice from weeping,

and your eyes from tears,

for there is a reward for your work,” ⌊declares⌋h Yahweh,

“and they will return from the land of the enemy.

17 And there is hope for your future,” ⌊declares⌋i Yahweh,

“and your children will return to their territory.

18 Indeed I heard Ephraim pitying themselves,

‘You disciplined me, and I was disciplined,

like a calf that is not trained.

Bring me back and let me return,

for you are Yahweh my God.

19 For after my turning back I repented,

and after coming to understand I struck my thigh.

I was ashamed and also humiliated,

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20 Is Ephraim my dear son,

or the child of my delight?

For ⌊as often as⌋j I have earnestly spoken against him,

I still remember him.

⌊Therefore⌋k my bowels are turbulent for him,

surely I will have compassion on him,” ⌊declares⌋l Yahweh.

21 “Set up for yourself road markers,

make for yourself signposts,

set your ⌊mind⌋m to the main road,

the road by which you went.

Return, O virgin of Israel,

return to these your cities.

22 ⌊How long⌋n will you waver, O unfaithful daughter?

For Yahweh has created a new thing on the earth,

a woman, she shelters a man.”