Jeremiah

At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

1"At that time," says the LORD, "I will be the God of every family of Israel, and they will be my people."

2Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

2This is what the LORD says: "The people who lived through the sword found kindness out in the desert, when Israel was going to find rest."

3The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

3Long ago the LORD appeared to us and said: "I have loved you with a love that never ends. That is why I have kept drawing you to me with faithful love."

4Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.

4"I will build you up again, and you will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will pick up your tambourines again and go out dancing with joy."

Note"Virgin Israel" is a name for the nation itself, pictured as a young woman. Prophets often speak of a city or a people this way.

5Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.

5"You will plant vineyards again on the hills of Samaria. The farmers who plant them will get to enjoy the fruit themselves."

6For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.

6"A day is coming when watchmen on the hills of Ephraim will call out, 'Get up! Let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'"

7For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.

7This is what the LORD says: "Sing with joy for Jacob! Shout for the greatest of the nations! Let your praise be heard. Say, 'LORD, save your people, the ones still left of Israel!'"

8Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.

8"Look, I will bring them back from the land in the north. I will gather them from the farthest parts of the earth. Blind people and lame people will come, and women who are pregnant or giving birth. A huge crowd will return."

9They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

9"They will come crying, and I will lead them as they beg me for help. I will walk them beside streams of water on a level path, where they will not trip. I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my oldest son."

10Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.

10Nations, hear the word of the LORD. Announce it in lands far across the sea: "The one who scattered Israel will gather them and guard them, the way a shepherd guards his flock."

11For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.

11The LORD has paid the price to set Jacob free. He has rescued him from the hand of an enemy who was stronger than he was.

12Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.

12They will come and sing for joy on the heights of Zion. Their faces will shine over the good gifts of the LORD: grain, new wine, oil, and young animals from the flocks and herds. Their lives will be like a garden with plenty of water. They will never be worn down by sorrow again.

13Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

13Then young women will dance for joy, and young men and old men with them. I will turn their crying into gladness. I will comfort them and give them joy instead of sorrow.

14And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.

14"I will fill the priests with more than enough good food, and my people will be filled with my goodness," says the LORD.

15Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

15This is what the LORD says: "A sound is heard in Ramah, crying and deep, bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children. She will not let anyone comfort her, because they are gone."

16Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

16This is what the LORD says: "Stop your crying and dry your eyes. Your hard work will be paid back, says the LORD. Your children will come home from the enemy's land."

17And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.

17"So there is hope for your future," says the LORD. "Your children will come back to their own land."

18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.

18"I have surely heard Ephraim groaning: 'You punished me hard, and I felt it, like a young ox that has never worn a yoke. Turn me back to you, and I will come back, for you are the LORD my God.'"

19Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

19"'After I turned back to you, I was sorry for what I had done. After you taught me, I struck my thigh in grief. I felt ashamed and disgraced, because I carried the shame of my younger days.'"

NoteStriking your own thigh was a way of showing deep grief or regret, the way we might put our head in our hands.

20Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.

20"Isn't Ephraim my dear son, the child I delight in? Even when I speak against him, I still remember him. My heart aches for him. I will surely show him mercy," says the LORD.

21Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.

21"Set up road markers. Put up signposts. Keep your mind on the highway, the road you traveled away from home. Come back, Virgin Israel, come back to these towns of yours."

22How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

22"How long will you wander, my unfaithful daughter? The LORD has made something new in the land: a woman will surround a man."

NoteThe Hebrew here is short and unclear. It says a woman will surround, shelter, or circle around a man, and no one is certain what picture it draws.

23Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.

23This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: "When I bring them back from being captives, people will say this again in Judah and its towns: 'May the LORD bless you, home of what is right, holy mountain.'"

24And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.

24"People will live together in Judah and in all its towns: farmers, and shepherds who move from place to place with their flocks."

25For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.

25"I will give rest to those who are worn out, and I will fill up everyone who is weak and sad."

26Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

26At this I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very pleasant.

27Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.

27"Look, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will plant the people of Israel and Judah again, the way a farmer sows seed. The land will fill with people and animals."

28And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.

28"I watched over them to pull them up, tear them down, knock them over, destroy them, and bring trouble. In the same way I will watch over them to build them and to plant them," says the LORD.

29In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.

29"In those days people will no longer say, 'The parents ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth ache.'"

Note"Teeth set on edge" means the sharp, sour ache you get from biting unripe fruit. The old saying meant children suffered for what their parents did.

30But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.

30"Instead, each person will die for his own sin. Whoever eats the sour grapes is the one whose own teeth will ache."

31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

31"Look, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah."

32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

32"It will not be like the agreement I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I was like a husband to them," says the LORD.

33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

33"This is the agreement I will make with the people of Israel after those days," says the LORD. "I will put my law inside them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."

34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

34"No one will need to teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD.' They will all know me, from the least important to the greatest, says the LORD. I will forgive the wrong they have done, and I will never bring their sin to mind again."

35Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

35This is what the LORD says. He gives the sun for light by day. He sets the moon and stars in order for light by night. He stirs up the sea so its waves roar. His name is the LORD of Armies.

36If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

36"Only if that fixed order of nature stopped working in front of me," says the LORD, "would Israel's descendants ever stop being a nation before me."

37Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.

37This is what the LORD says: "Only if someone could measure the heavens above, and dig out the foundations of the earth below, would I throw away all of Israel's descendants for everything they have done."

38Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.

38"Look, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when this city will be rebuilt for me. It will stretch from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate."

39And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.

39"The measuring line will go out straight from there to the hill of Gareb, and then turn toward Goah."

40And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.

40"The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown will be holy to the LORD. So will all the fields out to the Kidron Valley, up to the corner of the Horse Gate on the east. The city will never be pulled up or torn down again."