Jeremiah 31 - Prayer Tents

Hope for Restoration

31“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.H6256H5002H3068H430H4940H3478H5971 2This is what the Lord says: “Those who survive the coming destruction will find blessings even in the barren land, for I will give rest to the people of Israel.”H559H3068H5971H8300H2719H4672H2580H4057H3478H1980H7280 3Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.H3068H7200H7350H157H5769H160H2617H4900 4I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel. You will again be happy and dance merrily with your tambourines.H1129H1129H1330H3478H5710H8596H3318H4234H7832 5Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria and eat from your own gardens there.H5193H3754H2022H8111H5193H5193H2490 6The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord our God.’”H3426H3117H5341H2022H669H7121H6965H5927H6726H3068H430 7Now this is what the Lord says: “Sing with joy for Israel. Shout for the greatest of nations! Shout out with praise and joy: ‘Save your people, O Lord, the remnant of Israel!’H559H3068H7442H8057H3290H6670H7218H1471H8085H1984H559H3068H3467H5971H7611H3478 8For I will bring them from the north and from the distant corners of the earth. I will not forget the blind and lame, the expectant mothers and women in labor. A great company will return!H935H6828H776H6908H3411H776H5787H6455H2030H3205H3162H1419H6951H7725 9Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my oldest child.H935H1065H8469H2986H3212H5158H4325H3477H1870H3782H1H3478H669H1060 10“Listen to this message from the Lord, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: The Lord, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock.H8085H1697H3068H1471H5046H339H4801H559H2219H3478H6908H8104H7462H5739 11For the Lord has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them.H3068H6299H3290H1350H3027H2389 12They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem. They will be radiant because of the Lord’s good gifts—the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the healthy flocks and herds. Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone.H935H7442H4791H6726H5102H2898H3068H1715H8492H3323H1121H6629H1241H5315H7302H1588H1669H3254 13The young women will dance for joy, and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.H1330H8055H4234H970H2205H3162H2015H60H8342H5162H8055H3015 14The priests will enjoy abundance, and my people will feast on my good gifts. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H7301H5315H3548H1880H5971H7646H2898H5002H3068

Rachel’s Sadness Turns to Joy

15This is what the Lord says: “A cry is heard in Ramah—deep anguish and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted—for her children are gone.”H559H3068H6963H8085H7414H5092H8563H1065H7354H1058H1121H3985H5162H1121 16But now this is what the Lord says: “Do not weep any longer, for I will reward you,” says the Lord. “Your children will come back to you from the distant land of the enemy.H559H3068H4513H6963H1065H5869H1832H6468H3426H7939H5002H3068H7725H776H341 17There is hope for your future,” says the Lord. “Your children will come again to their own land.H3426H8615H319H5002H3068H1121H7725H1366 18I have heard Israel saying, ‘You disciplined me severely, like a calf that needs training for the yoke. Turn me again to you and restore me, for you alone are the Lord my God.H8085H8085H669H5110H3256H3256H5695H3808H3925H7725H7725H3068H430 19I turned away from God, but then I was sorry. I kicked myself for my stupidity! I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my younger days.’H310H7725H5162H310H3045H5606H3409H954H3637H5375H2781H5271 20“Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?” says the Lord. “I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That’s why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.H669H3357H1121H8191H3206H1767H1696H2142H2142H4578H1993H7355H7355H5002H3068 21Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Mark well the path by which you came. Come back again, my virgin Israel; return to your towns here.H5324H6725H7760H8564H7896H3820H4546H1870H1980H7725H1330H3478H7725H5892 22How long will you wander, my wayward daughter? For the Lord will cause something new to happen—Israel will embrace her God.”H2559H7728H1323H3068H1254H2319H776H5347H5437H1397 23This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people of Judah and its towns will again say, ‘The Lord bless you, O righteous home, O holy mountain!’H559H3068H6635H430H3478H559H1697H776H3063H5892H7725H7622H3068H1288H5116H6664H2022H6944 24Townspeople and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace and happiness.H3427H3063H5892H3162H406H5265H5739 25For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.”H7301H5889H5315H4390H1669H5315 26At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very sweet.H6974H7200H8142H6149 27“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will greatly increase the human population and the number of animals here in Israel and Judah.H3117H935H5002H3068H2232H1004H3478H1004H3063H2233H120H2233H929 28In the past I deliberately uprooted and tore down this nation. I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon it. But in the future I will just as deliberately plant it and build it up. I, the Lord, have spoken!H8245H5428H5422H2040H6H7489H8245H1129H5193H5002H3068 29“The people will no longer quote this proverb: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.’H3117H559H1H398H1155H1121H8127H6949 30All people will die for their own sins—those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker.H376H4191H5771H120H398H1155H8127H6949 31“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.H3117H935H5002H3068H3772H2319H1285H1004H3478H1004H3063 32This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.H1285H3772H1H3117H2388H3027H3318H776H4714H1285H6565H1166H5002H3068 33“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.H1285H3772H1004H3478H310H3117H5002H3068H5414H8451H7130H3789H3820H430H5971 34And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”H3925H376H7453H376H251H559H3045H3068H3045H6996H1419H5002H3068H5545H5771H2142H2403 35It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea into roaring waves. His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and this is what he says.H559H3068H5414H8121H216H3119H2708H3394H3556H216H3915H7280H3220H1530H1993H3068H6635H8034 36“I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to abolish the laws of nature!”H2706H4185H6440H5002H3068H2233H3478H7673H1471H6440H3117 37This is what the Lord says: “Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored, so I will not consider casting them away for the evil they have done. I, the Lord, have spoken!H559H3068H8064H4605H4058H4146H776H2713H4295H3988H2233H3478H6213H5002H3068 38“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when all Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.H3117H935H5002H3068H5892H1129H3068H4026H2606H8179H6438 39A measuring line will be stretched out over the hill of Gareb and across to Goah.H4060H6957H6961H3318H1389H1619H5437H1601 40And the entire area—including the graveyard and ash dump in the valley, and all the fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the Horse Gate—will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be captured or destroyed.”H6010H6297H1880H7709H8309H5158H6939H6438H5483H8179H4217H6944H3068H5428H2040H5769