Jeremiah 31

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

1The LORD says, "At that time I will be the God of every family in Israel. 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.

2The LORD says this: "The people who lived through the war found kindness in the desert. That was when Israel went 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 showed himself to us and said, "I have loved you with a love that never ends. That is why I have kept pulling you close with kind 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, young Israel, and you will be built. You will pick up your tabrets, small drums you shake, and go out dancing for joy."

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 grapevines again on the hills of Samaria. The farmers who plant them will get to eat the fruit."

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 the watchmen, the guards on the hills of Ephraim, will call out. They will say, 'Get up! Let us go up to Zion, the hill of 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.

7The LORD says this: "Sing with joy for Jacob! Shout for the greatest of the nations! Tell it out, praise, and say, 'LORD, save your people, the few of Israel who are left!'"

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 will come, and people who cannot walk. Mothers waiting for babies will come, and mothers having babies. A huge crowd will come home."

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 asking me for help, and I will lead them. I will walk them beside streams of water on a smooth road. They will not trip. For 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.

10Listen to the word of the LORD, you nations. Tell it on far away shores. Say, "The one who scattered Israel will gather them again. He will keep them safe, the way a shepherd keeps his sheep."

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 rescued him from a hand that was stronger than his own.

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.

12"They will come and sing on the high hill of Zion. They will be glad over the good gifts the LORD gives them: grain, new wine, oil, and young sheep and cattle. Their life will be like a garden with plenty of water. They will never waste away with 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.

13"Then girls will dance for joy, and young men and old men too. I will turn their crying into gladness. I will comfort them and give them joy instead of sadness."

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, the men who serve me at my house, with plenty of rich food. My people will have all the good things I give," 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.

15The LORD says this: "A voice is heard in the town of Ramah. There is crying and deep, bitter sadness. Rachel is crying for her children. She will not let anyone comfort her, because her children are gone."

Note"Rahel" is the older spelling of Rachel, one of the mothers of Israel's families. Ramah is a town north of Jerusalem.

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.

16The LORD says this: "Stop crying. Dry your eyes. Your hard work will be paid back, says the LORD. Your children will come home from the land of the enemy."

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

17"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 moaning to himself. He says, 'You punished me, and I was punished. I was like a young calf that never wore a yoke, a wooden bar for pulling. Turn me back, and I will come back. 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, I was sorry. After you taught me, I hit my leg because I felt so bad. I felt shame, and I could not lift my head. I was carrying the wrong I did when I was young.'"

NoteHitting your own leg was a way people showed deep sadness, like covering your face today.

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"Is Ephraim not my dear son, a child I delight in? Even when I speak against him, I still remember him. So my heart aches for him. I will surely be kind to him," 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 signs. Keep the highway in mind, the road you walked away on. Come back, young Israel. Come back to these cities 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 daughter who turned away? The LORD has made something new in the land: a woman will surround a man."

NoteThe Hebrew here is hard to be sure about. "Compass" in old English means to go around or surround, not to point a direction.

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.

23The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this: "When I bring them home again, people will say these words in Judah and its towns: 'May the LORD bless you, home where things are 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 all its towns. Farmers will live there, and people who travel with their flocks."

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

25"For I will give rest to the tired, and I will fill up everyone who is weak and sad."

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

26Then I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been sweet to me.

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 seed in Israel and Judah. The land will fill up 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 up, tear down, knock over, wreck, and bring trouble. In the same way I will watch over them to build and to plant," 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 not say this anymore: 'The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth went funny.'"

NoteThis was a common saying. Sour grapes make your teeth feel rough and strange. The saying meant children were being punished 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 the wrong he himself did. The one who eats the sour grapes is the one whose teeth go funny."

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 covenant with Israel and Judah. A covenant is a strong promise between two sides."

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 covenant I made with their fathers. I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke that covenant, 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 covenant I will make with 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 have to teach his neighbor or his brother, 'Get to know the LORD.' They will all know me, from the smallest to the greatest, says the LORD. For I will forgive the wrong they did. I will not remember their sin anymore."

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:

35The LORD gives the sun to shine by day. He set the moon and stars in order to shine at night. He stirs up the sea so its waves roar. His name is the LORD of Hosts, the LORD who leads heaven's 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 those set rules stopped working, says the LORD, would Israel's children 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.

37The LORD says this: "Only if someone could measure the heavens above, and dig out the foundations of the earth below, would I push away all of Israel's children for what 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 built again for me. It will reach from the tower of Hananeel 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 stretch out farther, straight to the hill of Gareb. Then it will turn toward Goath."

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 put will belong to the LORD. So will all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, out to the corner of the Horse Gate on the east. It will be holy to him. It will never be pulled up or knocked down again."