Jeremiah 31–32

31“At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God^m of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

²This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survive the sword

will find favorⁿ in the wilderness;

I will come to give rest^o to Israel.”

³The Lord appeared to us in the past,^a saying:

“I have loved^p you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn^q you with unfailing kindness.

⁴I will build you up again,

and you, Virgin^r Israel, will be rebuilt.^s

Again you will take up your timbrels^t

and go out to dance^u with the joyful.^v

⁵Again you will plant^w vineyards

on the hills of Samaria;^x

the farmers will plant them

and enjoy their fruit.^y

⁶There will be a day when watchmen^z cry out

on the hills of Ephraim,

‘Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’ ”^a

⁷This is what the Lord says:

“Sing^b with joy for Jacob;

shout for the foremost^c of the nations.

Make your praises heard, and say,

‘Lord, save^d your people,

the remnant^e of Israel.’

⁸See, I will bring them from the land of the north^f

and gather^g them from the ends of the earth.

Among them will be the blind^h and the lame,ⁱ

expectant mothers and women in labor;

a great throng will return.

⁹They will come with weeping;^j

they will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead^k them beside streams of water^l

on a level^m path where they will not stumble,

because I am Israel’s father,ⁿ

and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;

proclaim it in distant coastlands:^o

‘He who scattered^p Israel will gather^q them

and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’^r

¹¹For the Lord will deliver Jacob

and redeem^s them from the hand of those stronger^t than they.

¹²They will come and shout for joy^u on the heights^v of Zion;

they will rejoice in the bounty^w of the Lord—

the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,^x

the young of the flocks^y and herds.

They will be like a well-watered garden,^z

and they will sorrow^a no more.

¹³Then young women will dance and be glad,

young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning^b into gladness;

I will give them comfort^c and joy^d instead of sorrow.

¹⁴I will satisfy^e the priests^f with abundance,

and my people will be filled with my bounty,^g”

declares the Lord.

¹⁵This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,^h

mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,ⁱ

because they are no more.”^j

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,^k

for your work will be rewarded,^l”

declares the Lord.

“They will return^m from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷So there is hopeⁿ for your descendants,”

declares the Lord.

“Your children^o will return to their own land.

¹⁸“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:

‘You disciplined^p me like an unruly calf,^q

and I have been disciplined.

Restore^r me, and I will return,

because you are the Lord my God.

¹⁹After I strayed,^s

I repented;

after I came to understand,

I beat^t my breast.

I was ashamed^u and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’^v

²⁰Is not Ephraim my dear son,

the child^w in whom I delight?

Though I often speak against him,

I still remember^x him.

Therefore my heart yearns for him;

I have great compassion^y for him,”

declares the Lord.

²¹“Set up road signs;

put up guideposts.^z

Take note of the highway,^a

the road that you take.

Return,^b Virgin^c Israel,

return to your towns.

²²How long will you wander,^d

unfaithful^e Daughter Israel?

The Lord will create a new thing^f on earth—

the woman will return to^bg the man.”

²³This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity,^ch the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord blessⁱ you, you prosperous city,^j you sacred mountain.’^{k 24}People will live^l together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks.^{m 25}I will refresh the wearyⁿ and satisfy the faint.”^o

²⁶At this I awoke^p and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

²⁷“The days are coming,”^q declares the Lord, “when I will plant^r the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. ²⁸Just as I watched^s over them to uproot^t and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster,^u so I will watch over them to build and to plant,”^v declares the Lord. ²⁹“In those days people will no longer say,

‘The parents^w have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’^x

³⁰Instead, everyone will die for their own sin;^y whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will make a new covenant^z

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

³²It will not be like the covenant^a

I made with their ancestors^b

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,^c

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband^d to^d them,^e”

declares the Lord.

³³“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds^e

and write it on their hearts.^f

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.^g

³⁴No longer will they teach^h their neighbor,

or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all knowⁱ me,

from the least of them to the greatest,”

declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive^j their wickedness

and will remember their sins^k no more.”

³⁵This is what the Lord says,

he who appoints^l the sun

to shine by day,

who decrees the moon and stars

to shine by night,^m

who stirs up the seaⁿ

so that its waves roar^o—

the Lord Almighty is his name:^p

³⁶“Only if these decrees^q vanish from my sight,”

declares the Lord,

“will Israel^r ever cease

being a nation before me.”

³⁷This is what the Lord says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured^s

and the foundations of the earth below be searched out

will I reject^t all the descendants of Israel

because of all they have done,”

declares the Lord.

³⁸“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt^u for me from the Tower of Hananel^v to the Corner Gate.^{w 39}The measuring line^x will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰The whole valley^y where dead bodies^z and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley^a on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate,^b will be holy^c to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth^d year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth^e year of Nebuchadnezzar. ²The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging^f Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined^g in the courtyard of the guard^h in the royal palace of Judah.

³Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesyⁱ as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture^j it. ⁴Zedekiah^k king of Judah will not escape^l the Babylonians^am but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. ⁵He will takeⁿ Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him,^o declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’ ”^p

⁶Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth,^q because as nearest relative it is your right and duty^r to buy it.’

⁸“Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field^s at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the Lord; ⁹so I bought the field^t at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels^b of silver.^{u 10}I signed and sealed the deed,^v had it witnessed,^w and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy—¹²and I gave this deed to Baruch^x son of Neriah,^y the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³“In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: ¹⁴‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed^z and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. ¹⁵For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’^a

¹⁶“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch^b son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:

¹⁷“Ah, Sovereign Lord,^c you have made the heavens and the earth^d by your great power and outstretched arm.^e Nothing is too hard^f for you. ¹⁸You show love^g to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps^h of their childrenⁱ after them. Great and mighty God,^j whose name is the Lord Almighty,^{k 19}great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds.^l Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind;^m you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve.^{n 20}You performed signs and wonders^o in Egypt^p and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown^q that is still yours. ²¹You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand^r and an outstretched arm^s and with great terror.^{t 22}You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{u 23}They came in and took possession^v of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law;^w they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster^x on them.

²⁴“See how the siege ramps^y are built up to take the city. Because of the sword,…