Jeremiah 31 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Israel's Mourning Turned to Joy

Jer 31:1"At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."

Jer 31:2Thus says the LORD: "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest,

Jer 31:3

Jer 31:3the LORD appeared to him from afar. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Jer 31:4

Jer 31:4Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with timbrels, and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

Jer 31:5

Jer 31:5Again you shall plant vineyards upon the mountains of Sama'ria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit.

Jer 31:6

Jer 31:6For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of E'phraim: 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'"

Jer 31:7

Jer 31:7For thus says the LORD: "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, 'The LORD has saved his people, the remnant of Israel.'

Jer 31:8

Jer 31:8Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who is in travail, together; a great company, they shall return here.

Jer 31:9

Jer 31:9With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and E'phraim is my first-born.

Jer 31:10

Jer 31:10"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands afar off; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'

Jer 31:11

Jer 31:11For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

Jer 31:12

Jer 31:12They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.

Jer 31:13

Jer 31:13Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

Jer 31:14

Jer 31:14I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the LORD."

Jer 31:15

Jer 31:15Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not."

Jer 31:16

Jer 31:16Thus says the LORD: "Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

Jer 31:17

Jer 31:17There is hope for your future, says the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country.

Jer 31:18

Jer 31:18I have heard E'phraim bemoaning, 'Thou hast chastened me, and I was chastened, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for thou art the LORD my God.

Jer 31:19

Jer 31:19For after I had turned away I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'

Jer 31:20

Jer 31:20Is E'phraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.

Jer 31:21

Jer 31:21"Set up waymarks for yourself, make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities.

Jer 31:22

Jer 31:22How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman protects a man."

Jer 31:23

Jer 31:23Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: 'The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!'

Jer 31:24

Jer 31:24And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks.

Jer 31:25

Jer 31:25For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish."

Jer 31:26

Jer 31:26Thereupon I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

A New Covenant

Jer 31:27

Jer 31:27"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.

Jer 31:28

Jer 31:28And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.

Jer 31:29

Jer 31:29In those days they shall no longer say: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'

Jer 31:30

Jer 31:30But every one shall die for his own sin; each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

Jer 31:31

Jer 31:31"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

Jer 31:32

Jer 31:32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.

Jer 31:33

Jer 31:33But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jer 31:34

Jer 31:34And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Jer 31:35

Jer 31:35Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--the LORD of hosts is his name:

Jer 31:36

Jer 31:36"If this fixed order departs from before me, says the LORD, then shall the descendants of Israel cease from being a nation before me for ever."

Jer 31:37

Jer 31:37Thus says the LORD: "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the descendants of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD."

Jer 31:38

Jer 31:38"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Han'anel to the Corner Gate.

Jer 31:39

Jer 31:39And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Go'ah.

Jer 31:40

Jer 31:40The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown any more for ever."

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Source: Transcribed from: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version containing the Old and New Testaments, translated from the original tongues: being the version set forth A.D. 1611, revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901: compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1946-52. — 2nd ed. of New Testament A.D. 1971. There should be enough in the rest of the description to identify the text.

Language: English

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Jeremiah 31 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Israel's Mourning Turned to Joy

A New Covenant

Pericope