Jeremiah 30–33

Israel Will Return to the Lord

30A message came to me from the Lord. He said, ²“I am the Lord. I am the God of Israel. I say, ‘Write on a scroll all of the words I have spoken to you. ³A new day is coming,’ ” announces the Lord. “ ‘At that time I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from where they have been taken as prisoners. I will bring them back to this land. Long ago I gave it to their people to have as their own,’ ” says the Lord.

⁴Here are the words the Lord spoke about Israel and Judah. He said, ⁵“I am the Lord. I say,

“ ‘Cries of fear are heard.

There is terror. There isn’t any peace.

⁶Ask and see.

Can a man give birth to children?

Then why do I see every strong man

with his hands on his stomach?

Each of them is acting like a woman having a baby.

Every face is as pale as death.

⁷How awful that day will be!

No other day will be like it.

It will be a time of trouble for the people of Jacob.

But they will be saved out of it.

⁸“ ‘At that time I will break the yoke off their necks,’

announces the Lord who rules over all.

‘I will tear off the ropes that hold them.

People from other lands will not make them slaves anymore.

⁹Instead, they will serve me.

And they will serve David their king.

I will raise him up for them.

I am the Lord their God.

¹⁰“ ‘People of Jacob, do not be afraid.

You are my servant.

Israel, do not be terrified,’ ”

announces the Lord.

“ ‘You can be sure that I will save you.

I will bring you out of a place far away.

I will bring your children back

from the land where they were taken.

Your people will have peace and security again.

And no one will make them afraid.

¹¹I am with you. I will save you,’ ”

announces the Lord.

“ ‘I will completely destroy all of the nations

among which I scatter you.

But I will not completely destroy you.

I will correct you. But I will be fair.

I will punish you in a way that is fair and right.’ ”

¹²The Lord says,

“Your wound can’t be cured.

Your pain can’t be healed.

¹³No one will stand up for you.

There isn’t any medicine for your sore.

There isn’t any healing for you.

¹⁴All those who were going to help you have forgotten you.

They do not care about you.

I have struck you as if I were your enemy.

I have punished you as if I were very mean.

That is because your guilt is so great.

You have sinned so much.

¹⁵Why do you cry out about your wound?

Your pain can’t be healed.

Your guilt is very great.

And you have committed many sins.

That is why I have done all of those things to you.

¹⁶“But everyone who destroys you will be destroyed.

All of your enemies will be forced

to leave their countries.

Those who steal from you will be stolen from.

I will take the belongings

of those who take things from you.

¹⁷But I will make you healthy again.

I will heal your wounds,”

announces the Lord.

“That is because you have been thrown out.

You are called Zion, the one no one cares about.”

¹⁸The Lord says,

“I will bless Jacob’s people with great success again.

I will show tender love to Israel.

Jerusalem will be rebuilt where it was destroyed.

The palace will stand in its proper place.

¹⁹From those places the songs of people giving thanks will be heard.

The sound of great joy will come from there.

I will increase the numbers of my people.

Their numbers will not become smaller.

I will bring them honor.

People will have respect for them.

²⁰Things will be as they used to be for Jacob’s people.

I will make their community firm and secure.

I will punish everyone who treats them badly.

²¹Their leader will be one of their own people.

Their ruler will rise up from among them.

I will bring him near.

And he will come close to me.

He will commit himself to serve me,”

announces the Lord.

²²“So you will be my people.

And I will be your God.”

²³A storm will burst out

because of the Lord’s burning anger.

A strong wind will sweep down

on the heads of evil people.

²⁴The Lord’s burning anger won’t turn back.

He will accomplish everything

his heart plans to do.

In days to come

you will understand that.

31“At that time I will be the God of all of the tribes of Israel,” announces the Lord. “And they will be my people.”

²The Lord says,

“Some of my people will live through

everything their enemies do to them.

They will find help in the desert.

I will come to give peace and rest to Israel.”

³The Lord appeared to us in the past. He said,

“I have loved you with a love that lasts forever.

I have kept on loving you with faithful love.

⁴I will build you up again.

Nation of Israel, you will be rebuilt.

Once again you will use your tambourines to celebrate.

You will go out and dance with joy.

⁵Once again you will plant vineyards

on the hills of Samaria.

Farmers will plant them.

They will enjoy their fruit.

⁶There will be a day when those on guard duty will cry out.

They will stand on the hills of Ephraim.

And they will shout,

‘Come! Let’s go up to Zion.

Let’s go up to where the Lord our God is.’ ”

⁷The Lord says,

“Sing with joy because the people of Jacob are blessed.

Shout because the Lord has made them the greatest nation.

Make your praises heard.

Say, ‘Lord, save your people.

Save the people who are left alive in Israel.’

⁸I will bring them from the land of the north.

I will gather them from one end of the earth to the other.

Even those who are blind and those who can’t walk

will be among them.

Pregnant women and women having their babies

will be among them also.

A large number will return.

⁹Their eyes will be filled with tears as they come.

They will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead them beside streams of water.

I will lead them on a level path

where they will not trip or fall.

I am Israel’s father.

And Ephraim is my oldest son.

¹⁰“Listen to my message, you nations.

Announce it on shores far away.

Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather them.

He will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’

¹¹I will set the people of Jacob free.

I will save them from those who are stronger than they are.

¹²They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.

They will be joyful because of everything I give them.

I give them grain, olive oil and fresh wine.

I give them the young animals in their flocks and herds.

Israel will be like a garden that has plenty of water.

And they will not be sad anymore.

¹³Then young women will dance and be glad.

And so will the men, young and old alike.

I will turn their sobbing into gladness.

I will comfort them.

And I will give them joy instead of sorrow.

¹⁴I will satisfy the priests. I will give them more than enough.

And my people will be filled with the good things I give them,”

announces the Lord.

¹⁵The Lord says,

“A voice is heard in Ramah.

It is the sound of crying and deep sadness.

Rachel is crying over her children.

She refuses to be comforted,

because they are gone.”

¹⁶The Lord says,

“Do not sob anymore.

Do not let tears fall from your eyes.

I will reward you for your work,”

announces the Lord.

“Your children will return from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷So I am giving you hope for the years to come,”

announces the Lord.

“Your children will return to their own land.

¹⁸“I have heard the groans of Ephraim’s people. They say,

‘You corrected us like a calf you were training.

And we have been trained.

Bring us back to you, and we will come back.

You are the Lord our God.

¹⁹After we wandered away from you,

we turned away from our sins.

After we learned our lesson,

we beat our chests in sorrow.

We were full of shame.

What we did when we were young brought dishonor on us.’

²⁰Aren’t the people of Ephraim my dear children?

Aren’t they the children I take delight in?

I often speak against them.

But I still remember them.

So my heart longs for them.

I love them with a tender love,”

announces the Lord.

²¹The Lord says, “Put up road signs.

Set up stones to show the way.

Look carefully for the highway.

Look for the road you will take.

Return, people of Israel.

Return to your towns.

²²How long will you wander,

you people who are not faithful to me?

I will create a new thing on earth.

A woman will guard a man.”

²³The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “I will bring them back from the place where they were taken. The people in Judah and its towns will say once again, ‘Holy temple in Jerusalem, may the Lord bless you. Sacred mountain, may he bless you.’

²⁴“People will live together in Judah and all of its towns. Farmers and shepherds will live there. ²⁵I will give rest to those who are tired. I will satisfy those who are weak.”

²⁶When I heard that, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant.

²⁷The Lord announces, “The days are coming when I will plant the nation of Israel and Judah again. I will plant it with children and young animals.

²⁸“I watched over Israel and Judah to pull them up by the roots. I tore them down. I crushed them. I destroyed them. I brought horrible trouble on them. But now I will watch over them to build them up and plant them,” announces the Lord.

²⁹“In those days people will no longer say,

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes.

But the children have a bitter taste in their mouths.’

³⁰Instead, everyone will die for his own sin. The one who eats sour grapes will taste how bitter they are.

³¹“A new day is coming,” announces the Lord.

“I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel.

I will also make it with the people of Judah.

³²It will not be like the covenant

I made with their people long ago.

That was when I took them by the hand.

I led them out of Egypt.

But they broke my covenant.

They did it even though I was like a husband to them,”

announces the Lord.

³³“This is the covenant I will make with Israel

after that time,” announces the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds.

I will write it on their hearts.

I will be their God.

And they will be my people.

³⁴A man will not need to teach his neighbor anymore.

And he will not need to teach his friend anymore.

He will not say, ‘Know the Lord.’

Everyone will know me.

From the least important of them to the most important,

all of them will know me,”

announces the Lord.

“I will forgive their evil…