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31
1 At that time, I will be the God of all Israel's families, and they will be my people, declares the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord says: The Israelites who survive death by the sword were blessed by the Lord in the desert as they looked for peace and quiet.
3 Long ago the Lord came and told us, My love for you will last forever. I hold you close to me with my trustworthy love. 4 I'm going to rebuild you, and it will happen. You will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will pick up your tambourines again and run outside to dance with joy. 5 You will replant vineyards on Samaria's hills; those who plant will enjoy the grapes.
6 A day is coming when watchmen will call out from the hills of Ephraim, “Come on, let's go up to Zion, to worship the Lord our God!”
7 This is what the Lord says: Sing happily for the descendants of Jacob; shout for the greatest of all nations! Let everybody know! Praise and call out, “Lord, save your people, those who are left of Israel!”
8 Watch, because I will bring them back from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Everyone will return, even the blind and the lame, pregnant women, even mothers giving birth—a great gathering coming home, 9 They will come back with tears in their eyes, and they will be praying as I take them home. I will lead them beside streams of waters, on level paths where they won't stumble. For I am Israel's Father; Ephraim*Ephraim was not literally the firstborn but is used as a wider description for Israel. More than birth order, firstborn refers more to the rights and privileges relating to this status. is my firstborn.
10 Listen, nations, to what the Lord has to say, and let others know about in faraway countries: The Lord who scattered Israel will gather them together and keep them safe, just like a shepherd looks after his flock. 11 The Lord has redeemed the descendants of Jacob and rescued them from their enemies who had defeated them. 12 They will return and celebrate with happy shouts on Mount Zion; their faces will beam over the Lord's wonderful gifts—the grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the young of their flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden; and they won't ever be depressed again. 13 The girls will dance in celebration; young men and old people will join in too. I will turn their sorrow into joy, and I will comfort them and change their sadness into happiness. 14 I will give my priests everything they need and more, and my people will be more than satisfied with my goodness towards them, declares the Lord.
15 This is what the Lord says: The sound of terrible weeping and mourning is heard in Ramah. It's Rachel crying for her children. They are dead, and she can't be comforted 16 This is what the Lord says: Don't cry anymore, don't weep anymore, because you're going to be rewarded for what you've done, declares the Lord. Your children will return from the country of your enemies. 17 So you can have hope for the future, declares the Lord. Your children will return to their own country.
18 Don't worry, I've heard Ephraim's groans, saying, “You disciplined me really hard as if I was a calf that hadn't been trained. Please bring me back, let me return, for you are the Lord my God. 19 When I came back to you I was sorry, and once I understood, I held my head in sadness.†“I held my head in sadness”: literally, “I struck my thigh.” I was ashamed and I blushed, embarrassed at what I'd done when I was young.”
20 But isn't Ephraim still my precious son, my lovely child? Even though I often have to scold him, I can't forget him. So I'm torn inside with longing, wanting to show how much I care about him! declares the Lord.
21 Put up markers on the road; make signposts for yourselves. You need to be sure you can find the highway, the road you traveled on. Come back, Virgin Israel, come back to your towns. 22 How long are you going to waver in your decision, you unfaithful daughter? For the Lord has made something new happen here: a woman is going to protect a man.
23 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: When I bring them back home from exile, they will say again in the land of Judah and in its towns: “May the Lord bless you, holy mountain of Jerusalem, home of what is good and right. 24 The people of Judah and all its towns will live together in the land, the farmers and those who move around with their flocks, 25 because I'm going to give rest to those who are tired and give strength to all those who are weak.”
26 At this I woke up and looked around. I'd had a very pleasant sleep.‡It is unclear how this verse fits into the whole narrative. Some see it as Jeremiah's comment, others the reactions of those just mentioned.
27 Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make the numbers of people and livestock grow in Israel and Judah. 28 I took care of them by uprooting them and tearing them down, by wiping them out and destroying them and bringing them disaster. Now I will take care of them by building them up and helping them grow, declares the Lord.
29 At that time people won't repeat this proverb, “The fathers ate the unripe grapes, but their children got the sour taste.” 30 No. Each person will die because of their own sins. If anyone eats unripe grapes, they will get the sour taste themselves.
31 Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It won't be like the agreement that I made with their forefathers when I held their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I was faithful like a husband to them, declares the Lord.
33 But this is the agreement I'm going to make with the people of Israel at that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws inside them and write them in their minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No one will need to teach a neighbor or their brother, telling them, “You ought to know the Lord.” For everyone will know me, from the smallest to the greatest. I will forgive them when they do wrong, and I will forget about their sins.
35 This is what the Lord says, who provides the sun to give light during the day, who places in order the moon and stars to give light at night, who makes the sea rough so that its waves roar; his name is the Lord Almighty:
36 Only if these natural laws disappeared before my eyes would Israel's descendants stop being my people, declares the Lord. 37 This is what the Lord says: Only if the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth below could be investigated, would I reject all of Israel's descendants because of everything they've done, declares the Lord.
38 The time is coming, declares the Lord, when this city will be rebuilt for the Lord, all the way from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The builder's measuring line will again stretch out directly to Gareb Hill and then turn toward Goah. 40 The entire valley, where the dead are buried and the trash is dumped, and all the fields from the Kidron Valley as far as the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the Lord. Jerusalem will never again be torn down or destroyed.

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*31:9 Ephraim was not literally the firstborn but is used as a wider description for Israel. More than birth order, firstborn refers more to the rights and privileges relating to this status.

†31:19 “I held my head in sadness”: literally, “I struck my thigh.”

‡31:26 It is unclear how this verse fits into the whole narrative. Some see it as Jeremiah's comment, others the reactions of those just mentioned.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher