Jeremiah 31

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.”