30
Jeremiah

The Book of Comfort: Restoration and the New Covenant (part 1)

Jeremiah 30:1-31:20
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 2Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you on a scroll. 3For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. 4And these are the words that the LORD spoke to Israel and to Judah. 5For thus says the LORD: We have heard a voice of trembling, of dread, and there is no peace. 6Ask, please, and see whether a male begets. Why have I seen every man with his hands on his loins like one in labor, and all faces turned to pallor. 7Woe! For that day is great; there is none like it, and it is a time of distress for Jacob, yet he shall be saved out of it. 8And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck and I will tear off your bonds, and strangers shall no longer make him serve. 9But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. 10And you, my servant Jacob, do not fear, declares the LORD, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him tremble. 11For I am with you, declares the LORD, to save you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I scattered you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in justice, and I will by no means leave you unpunished. 12For thus says the LORD: Your breaking is incurable; your wound is grievous. 13There is none to plead your cause for the wound; there are no healing remedies for you. 14All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you; for I have struck you with the wound of an enemy, with cruel discipline, because of the abundance of your iniquity; your sins were many. 15Why do you cry out over your breaking? Your pain is incurable because of the abundance of your iniquity; your sins were many; I have done these things to you. 16Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured, and all your enemies, every one of them, shall go into captivity; those who plunder you shall become plunder, and I will give all who plunder you to be plundered. 17For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, declares the LORD, because they have called you an outcast: Zion, for whom no one cares. 18Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will restore the captivity of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwelling places; the city shall be rebuilt on its mound, and the palace shall stand where it belongs. 19Out of them shall come thanksgiving and the voice of those who laugh; I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will honor them, and they shall not be small. 20Their children shall be as of old, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all who oppress them. 21Their leader shall be one of them, and their ruler shall come from their midst; I will bring him near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare to pledge his heart to approach me? declares the LORD. 22And you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 23Behold, the tempest of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will whirl upon the head of the wicked. 24The burning anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has done it and until he has performed the purposes of his heart; in the latter days you will understand it.
Chapter 31
1At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2Thus says the LORD: The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness; Israel went to find rest. 3The LORD appeared to me from afar, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. 4Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of merrymakers. 5Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 6For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God. 7For thus says the LORD: Sing aloud with joy for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say: O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel. 8Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north, and I will gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company shall return here. 9They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of water, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 10Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say: He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. 11For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he. 12They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall flow to the goodness of the LORD, to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and the herd; their soul shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. 13Then the virgin shall rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry together; I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow. 14I will satisfy the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD. 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 no more. 16Thus says the LORD: Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD; they shall return from the land of the enemy. 17There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall return to their own border. 18I have surely heard Ephraim grieving: You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may return, for you are the LORD my God. 19For after I had turned away, I repented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was also humiliated, because I bore the disgrace of my youth. 20Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still remember him; therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD.
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