31 1 "At that time," declares our Father, "I will be the Father of all the families of Israel, and they will be my children."
2 This is what our Father says: "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; Israel went out to find its rest."
3 From far away our Father appeared to me, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you to myself with faithful love." 4 "Again I will build you, and you will be built, virgin Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in the dance of those who celebrate." 5 "Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the planters will plant and enjoy the fruit." 6 For there will be a day when the watchmen call out in the hill country of Ephraim: "Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to our Father!"
7 For this is what our Father says: "Sing out with joy for Jacob, and shout for the greatest of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, 'Our Father, save your people, the remnant of Israel!'" 8 "See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth — among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and the one in labor. Together they will return here, a great company." 9 "With weeping they will come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of water, on a level path where they will not stumble, for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."
10 Hear the word of our Father, 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." 11 For our Father has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from a hand too strong for him. 12 They will come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the goodness of our Father — over the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd. Their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never languish again.
13 "Then the young women will rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness in place of their sorrow." 14 "I will fill the priests with abundance, and my children will be satisfied with my goodness," declares our Father.
15 This is what our Father says: "A voice is heard in Ramah — wailing and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more." a a v15 Matthew sees this lament fulfilled in the weeping at Bethlehem when Herod killed the children (Matthew 2:18) — and our Father's promise of return in the verses that follow points to the hope beyond the grief.
16 This is what our Father says: "Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares our Father, and they will return from the land of the enemy." 17 "There is hope for your future, declares our Father, and your children will return to their own land." 18 "I have surely heard Ephraim grieving: 'You disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back so I can return, for you are my Father.'" 19 "For after I turned away, I repented; after I was instructed, I struck my thigh. I was ashamed and humiliated, because I bore the disgrace of my youth." b b v19 Striking the thigh was an ancient gesture expressing deep grief or horror. 20 "Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart is moved with compassion for him; I will surely have mercy on him," declares our Father. 21 "Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself signposts. Fix your mind on the highway, the road you walked. Return, virgin Israel, return to your own cities." 22 "How long will you waver, faithless daughter? For our Father has created a new thing on the earth: a woman will surround a man."
23 This is what the Father of heaven's armies, the Father of Israel, says: "Once more they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: 'Our Father bless you, dwelling of righteousness, holy mountain!'" 24 Judah and all its cities will dwell there together — the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 "For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish."
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep had been sweet to me.
27 "The days are coming, declares our Father, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast." 28 "And just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares our Father. 29 "In those days they will no longer say: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'"
30 "But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Each one who eats sour grapes — his own teeth will be set on edge."
31 "The days are coming, declares our Father, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah." c c v31 Jesus inaugurated this new covenant at the Last Supper, in his own blood (Luke 22:20); Hebrews names him the mediator who makes our Father's promise sure (Hebrews 8:8-12). 32 "It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — my covenant that they broke, though I was a husband to them," declares our Father. 33 "But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares our Father: I will put my instruction within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their Father, and they will be my children." 34 "No longer will anyone teach their neighbor or their brother, saying, 'Know our Father,' for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares our Father. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." 35 This is what our Father says, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar — the Father of heaven's armies is his name: 36 "If this fixed order ever departs from before me, declares our Father, then the children of Israel would cease to be a nation before me forever." 37 This is what our Father says: "If the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, then I would reject all the children of Israel for all they have done, declares our Father."
38 "The days are coming, declares our Father, when the city will be rebuilt for our Father, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate." 39 The measuring line will stretch out farther, straight to the hill of Gareb, and then turn toward Goah. 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the terraces as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, will be holy to our Father. It will never again be uprooted or overthrown.