CHAPTER 31
“At that
time,”
declares
the LORD,
“I will be
the God
of all
the families
of Israel,
and they
will be
My people.”
This is what
the LORD
says:
“The people
who survived
the sword
found
favor
in the wilderness
when Israel
went
to find rest.”
The LORD
appeared
to him
from afar:
“I have loved
you with an everlasting
love;
therefore
I have drawn you
with loving devotion.
Again
I will build you,
and you will be rebuilt,
O Virgin
Israel.
Again
you will take up
your tambourines
and go out
in joyful
dancing.
Again
you will plant
vineyards
on the hills
of Samaria;
the farmers
will plant
and enjoy the fruit.
For
there will be
a day
when watchmen
will call out
on the hills
of Ephraim,
‘Arise,
let us go up
to Zion,
to
the LORD
our God!’”
For
this is what
the LORD
says:
“Sing
with joy
for Jacob;
shout
for the foremost
of the nations!
Make
your praises heard
and say,
‘O LORD,
save
Your people,
the remnant
of Israel!’
Behold,
I will bring
them
from the land
of the north
and gather them
from the farthest parts
of the earth,
including
the blind
and the lame,
expectant mothers
and women in labor.
They will return
as a great
assembly!
They will come
with weeping,
and by their supplication
I will lead them;
I will make them walk
beside
streams
of waters,
on a level
path
where they will not
stumble.
For
I am
Israel’s
Father,
and Ephraim
is My firstborn.”
Hear,
O nations,
the word
of the LORD,
and proclaim it
in distant
coastlands,
saying:
“The One who scattered
Israel
will gather them
and keep them
as a shepherd
guards his flock.
They will come
and shout for joy
on the heights
of Zion;
they will be radiant
in
the bounty
of the LORD—
the grain,
the new wine,
the fresh oil,
and
the young
of the flocks
and herds.
Their life
will be
like a well-watered
garden,
and never
again
will they languish.
Then
the maidens
will rejoice
with dancing,
young men
and old
as well.
I will turn
their mourning
into joy,
and give them comfort
and joy
for their sorrow.
I will refresh
the priests
with abundance,
and My people
will be filled
with My bounty,”
declares
the LORD.
This is what
the LORD
says:
“A voice
is heard
in Ramah,
mourning
and great
weeping,
Rachel
weeping
for
her children,
and refusing
consolation,
because
they are no more.”
This is what
the LORD
says:
“Keep
your voice
from weeping
and your eyes
from tears,
for
the reward
for your work
will come,
declares
the LORD.
Then your children will return
from the land
of the enemy.
So there is
hope
for your future,
declares
the LORD,
and your children
will return
to their own land.
I have surely
heard
Ephraim’s
moaning:
‘You disciplined me severely,
like an untrained
calf.
Restore me,
and I will return,
for
You are
the LORD
my God.
After
I returned,
I repented;
and after
I was instructed,
I struck my thigh
in grief.
I was ashamed
and
humiliated
because
I bore
the disgrace
of my youth.’
Is not Ephraim
a precious
son to Me,
a delightful
child?
Though I often
speak against him,
surely I still
remember
him.
Therefore
My heart
yearns for him;
I have great compassion
for him,”
declares
the LORD.
“Set up
the roadmarks,
establish
the signposts.
Keep the highway
in mind,
the road
you have traveled.
Return,
O Virgin
Israel,
return
to
these
cities of yours.
How long
will you wander,
O faithless
daughter?
For
the LORD
has created
a new thing
in the land—
a woman
will surround
a man.”
This is what
the LORD
of Hosts,
the God
of Israel,
says:
“When I restore
them
from captivity,
they will once again
speak
this
word
in the land
of Judah
and in its cities:
‘May the LORD
bless you,
O righteous
dwelling place,
O holy
mountain.'
And Judah
and all
its cities
will dwell
together
in the land,
the farmers
and those who move
with the flocks,
“The days
are coming,”
declares
the LORD,
“when I will sow
the house
of Israel
and the house
of Judah
with the offspring
of man
and
of beast.
Just as
I watched
over
them to uproot
and tear them down,
to demolish,
destroy,
and bring disaster,
so
will I be attentive
to build them
and to plant them,”
declares
the LORD.
“In those
days,
it will no
longer
be said:
‘The fathers
have eaten
sour grapes,
and this has set the children’s
teeth
on edge.’
Instead,
each
will die
for his own iniquity.
If anyone
eats
the sour grapes,
his own teeth
will be set on edge.
Behold,
the days
are coming,
declares
the LORD,
when I will make
a new
covenant
with
the house
of Israel
and with
the house
of Judah.
It will not
be like the covenant
I made
with
their fathers
when
I took
them by the hand
to lead them out
of Egypt—
a covenant
they
broke,
though I
was a husband
to them,”
declares
the LORD.
“But
this
is the covenant
I will make
with
the house
of Israel
after
those
days,
declares
the LORD.
I will put
My law
in their minds
and inscribe it
on
their hearts.
And I will be
their God,
and they
will be
My people.
No
longer
will each man
teach
his neighbor
or
his brother,
saying,
‘Know
the LORD,’
because
they will all
know
Me,
from the least of them
to
the greatest,
declares
the LORD.
For
I will forgive
their iniquity
and will remember
their sins
no
more."
Thus
says
the LORD,
who gives
the sun
for light
by day
and orders
the moon
and stars
for light
by night,
who stirs up
the sea
so that its waves
roar—
the LORD
of Hosts
is His name:
“Only if
this
fixed order
departed
from My presence,
declares
the LORD,
would Israel’s
descendants
ever
cease
to be
a nation
before Me.”
This is what
the LORD
says:
“Only if
the heavens
above
could be measured
and the foundations
of the earth
below
searched out,
would I
reject
all
of Israel’s
descendants
because of
all
they have done,”
declares
the LORD.
“Behold,
the days
are coming,”
declares
the LORD,
“when the city
will be rebuilt
for Me,
from the tower
of Hananel
to the Corner
Gate.
The measuring
line
will once again
stretch out
straight
to
the hill
of Gareb
and then turn
toward Goah.
The whole
valley
of the dead bodies
and of ashes,
and all
the fields
as
far as the Kidron
Valley,
to
the corner
of the Horse
Gate
to the east,
will be holy
to the LORD.
It will never
again
be uprooted
or demolished.”