Jeremiah 31 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
"When that time comes," Yahweh, "I will be the of every family in Israel, and they will be my people."
This is what Yahweh says: "The people who survived the sword found in the wilderness — Israel, on its way to find
From far away, Yahweh appeared to them: "I have loved you with a that ends. That's why I've kept drawing you close with
I will rebuild you, and you will be rebuilt, young Israel. You'll take up your again and dance out into the celebration.
You'll plant vineyards again on the hills of Samaria; the farmers who plant them will their
Because a day is coming when will call out from the hills of Ephraim: 'Get up! Let's go up to Zion, to Yahweh our God!'
This is what Yahweh says: "Shout with joy for Jacob! Celebrate at the top of the nations! Let your voices ring out and say: 'Yahweh, your people — the ones left of Israel!'"
"Watch — I'm bringing them back from the country, gathering them from the farthest edges of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the limping, the pregnant woman and the one in labor, together — a massive crowd returning here."
They'll come back weeping, and I'll lead them as they pray. I'll walk them beside streams of water, on a level path where they won't stumble. Because I am a to Israel, and Ephraim is my
"Listen to what Yahweh has to say, you nations. Spread the word to the distant coastlands: 'The one who scattered Israel will gather them back and watch over them like a guards his flock.'"
Because Yahweh has freedom and him from the one too strong for him.
They'll come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion, streaming toward the good things Yahweh gives — the grain, the the fresh oil, the young flocks and herds. Their lives will be like a garden, and they'll never feel empty again.
"Then young women will dance with joy, and young men and old men together. I'll turn their into celebration. I'll comfort them and trade their sorrow for happiness."
I'll satisfy the with abundance, and my people will be filled to overflowing with my good things," declares Yahweh.
This is what Yahweh says: "A voice is heard in — sobbing, bitter weeping. Rachel is for her children. She refuses to be comforted, because they are gone."
This is what Yahweh says: "Hold back your voice from crying and your eyes from tears, because your will be rewarded," declares Yahweh. "They will return from enemy territory."
"There is for your future," declares Yahweh. "Your children will return to their own land."
"I have clearly heard Ephraim's groaning: 'You me, and I was — like an calf. Bring me back, and I'll come back, because you, Yahweh, are my God.'"
"After I turned away, I was filled with regret. After I was taught, I my own in shame. I was humiliated, completely disgraced, because I carried the of my
"Isn't Ephraim my child? Isn't he the son I in? Because every time I speak against him, I still remember him — deeply. That's why my for him. I will absolutely show him compassion," declares Yahweh.
"Set up for yourself. Put up signposts. Pay attention to the highway, the you traveled. Come back, young woman Israel. Come back to these towns of yours."
"How long will you wander around, daughter? Because Yahweh is creating on the earth: a woman will embrace a man."
This is what Yahweh, of the God of Israel, says: "They'll say these words again in the land of Judah and its towns, when I bring them back from captivity: 'May Yahweh bring you goodness, you place where justice lives, you
"Judah and all its towns will live there together — the farmers and those who move with their flocks."
"Because I will refresh the exhausted and fill up everyone who feels empty."
At this, I woke up and looked around, and my sleep had been sweet to me.
"The days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when I will the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and the seed of animals."
"And just as I them to uproot and tear down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch them to build and to plant," declares Yahweh.
"In those days people will no longer say, 'The parents ate but it was the children's teeth that ached.'"
"Instead, each person will die for their own Everyone who eats sour grapes — their own teeth will ache."
"The days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when I will make a with the house of Israel and the house of Judah."
"It won't be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I them by the and led them out of Egypt — my covenant that they broke, even though I was a to them," declares Yahweh.
"But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares Yahweh. "I will put my inside them and write it on their I will be their God, and they will be my people."
"No one will need to teach their neighbor anymore, or tell their brother, Yahweh,' because they will all me — from the least important to the most important," declares Yahweh. "Because I will their and never remember their again."
This is what Yahweh says — the one who sets the sun to light the day and orders the moon and stars to light the night, who up the so its waves roar — Yahweh, Commander of angel armies, is his name:
"If these ever disappear from my sight," declares Yahweh, "only then would Israel's descendants stop being a nation in my presence — forever."
This is what Yahweh says: "If the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below could be explored, only then would I reject all of Israel's descendants for everything they've done," declares Yahweh.
"The days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when this city will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the of to the
"The will stretch out further, straight to the hill of Gareb, and then curve around to Goah."
"And the whole where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the fields out to the to the corner of the toward the east — it will all be for It will never be torn down or destroyed again."