JEREMIAH 31 [†] z “At that time, declares the LORD,  a I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

2[†] Thus says the LORD:

“The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

 b when Israel sought for rest,

3[†] the LORD appeared to him [1] from far away.

 c I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore  d I have continued  e my faithfulness to you.

4[†]  f Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

 g Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in  h the dance of the merrymakers.

5[†]  i Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.

6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

in  j the hill country of Ephraim:

 k ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

to the LORD our God.’”

7[†] For thus says the LORD:

 l “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for  m the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

 n ‘O LORD, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

8[†] Behold, I will bring them  o from the north country

and  p gather them from  q the farthest parts of the earth,

among them  r the blind and the lame,

the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

a great company, they shall return here.

9[†]  s With weeping they shall come,

 t and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

I will make them  u walk by brooks of water,

 v in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

for  w I am a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is  x my firstborn.

10[†] “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, ‘He who scattered Israel will  p gather him,

and will keep him  y as a shepherd keeps his flock.’

11[†]  z For the LORD has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from  a hands too strong for him.

12[†] They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

 b and they shall be radiant  c over the goodness of the LORD,

 d over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

 e their life shall be like a watered garden,

 f and they shall languish no more.

13[†]  g Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

 h I will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

14[†]  i I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,

and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

declares the LORD.”

15[^][†] Thus says the LORD:

 j “A voice is heard in  k Ramah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

 l Rachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

 m because they are no more.”

16[†] Thus says the LORD:

“Keep your voice from weeping,

and your eyes from tears,

for there is a reward for your work,

declares the LORD,

and  n they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

17  o There is hope for your future,

declares the LORD,

and your children shall come back to their own country.

18[†] I have heard  p Ephraim grieving,

‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,

like an untrained calf;

 q bring me back that I may be restored,

for you are the LORD my God.

19[†] For after  r I had turned away, I relented,

and after I was instructed,  s I struck my thigh;

 t I was ashamed, and I was confounded,

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20[†]  p Is Ephraim my dear son?

 u Is he my darling child?

For as often as I speak against him,

I do remember him still.

 v Therefore my heart [2] yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the LORD.

21[†]  w “Set up road markers for yourself;

make yourself guideposts;

 x consider well the highway,

 w the road by which you went.

Return, O virgin Israel,

return to these your cities.

22[†]  y How long will you waver,

 z O faithless daughter?

For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth:

a woman encircles a man.”

23[†]Thus 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,  a when I restore their fortunes:

 b “‘The LORD bless you,  c O habitation of righteousness,

 d O holy hill!’

24 e And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and  e the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25For I will  f satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

26[†]At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27[†] g “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when  h I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with  i the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28[†]And it shall come to pass that  j as I have watched over them  k to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm,  j so I will watch over them  l to build and to plant, declares the LORD. 29[†]In those days they shall no longer say:

 m “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 n But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

31[^][†] o “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make  p a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32[†]not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when  q I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke,  r though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33[†] s For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD:  s I will put my law within them, and I will write it  t on their hearts.  u And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34[†]And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’  v for they shall all know me,  w from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For  x I will forgive their iniquity, and  y I will remember their sin no more.”

35[†] Thus says the LORD,

who  z gives the sun for light by day

and  a the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

 b the LORD of hosts is his name:

36  c “If this fixed order departs

from before me, declares the LORD,

then shall the offspring of Israel cease

from being a nation before me forever.”

37[†] Thus says the LORD:

“If the heavens above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

 d then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

for all that they have done,

declares the LORD.”

38[†] e “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD  f from the Tower of Hananel to  g the Corner Gate. 39 h And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 i The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the  j brook Kidron, to the corner of  k the Horse Gate toward the east,  l shall be sacred to the LORD.  m It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”