Jeremiah 31:1

The Remnant of Israel Saved

1 “At ^athe same time,” says the Lord, ^b“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when ^aI went to give him rest.”

3 The Lord has appeared¹ of old to me, saying:
“Yes, ^aI have loved you with ^ban everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have ^cdrawn you.

4 Again ^aI will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
You shall again be adorned with your ^btambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

5 ^aYou shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;
The planters shall plant and¹ eat them as ordinary food.

6 For there shall be a day
When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim,
^a‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’ ”

7 For thus says the Lord:
^a“Sing with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O Lord, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’

8 Behold, I will bring them ^afrom the north country,
And ^bgather them from the ends of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child
And the one who labors with child, together;
A great throng shall return there.

9 ^aThey shall come with weeping,
And with supplications I will lead them.
I will cause them to walk ^bby the rivers of waters,
In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;
For I am a Father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My ^cfirstborn.

10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare it in the¹ isles afar off, and say,
‘He who scattered Israel ^awill gather him,
And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’

11 For ^athe Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And ransomed him ^bfrom the hand of one stronger than he.

12 Therefore they shall come and sing in ^athe height of Zion,
Streaming to ^bthe goodness of the Lord—
For wheat and new wine and oil,
For the young of the flock and the herd;
Their souls shall be like a ^cwell-watered garden,
^dAnd they shall sorrow no more at all.

13 “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together;
For I will turn their mourning to joy,
Will comfort them,
And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

14 I will¹ satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

Mercy on Ephraim

15 Thus says the Lord:
^a“A voice was heard in ^bRamah,
Lamentation and bitter ^cweeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted for her children,
Because ^dthey are no more.”

16 Thus says the Lord:
“Refrain your voice from ^aweeping,
And your eyes from tears;
For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,
And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

17 There is ^ahope in your future, says the Lord,
That your children shall come back to their own border.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:
‘You have ^achastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained bull;
^bRestore me, and I will return,
For You are the Lord my God.

19 Surely, ^aafter my turning, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;
I was ^bashamed, yes, even humiliated,
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20 Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a pleasant child?
For though I spoke against him,
I earnestly remember him still;
^aTherefore My¹ heart yearns for him;
^bI will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.

21 “Set up signposts,
Make landmarks;
^aSet your heart toward the highway,
The way in which you went.
¹Turn back, O virgin of Israel,
Turn back to these your cities.

22 How long will you ^agad about,
O you ^bbacksliding daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—
A woman shall encompass a man.”

Future Prosperity of Judah

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ^a‘The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and ^bmountain of holiness!’

24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and ^ain all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks.

25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

26 After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was ^asweet to me.

27 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that ^aI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.

28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have ^awatched over them ^bto pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them ^cto build and to plant, says the Lord.

29 ^aIn those days they shall say no more:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 ^aBut every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

A New Covenant

31 “Behold, the ^adays are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that ^aI took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke,¹ though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

33 ^aBut this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: ^bI will put My law in their minds, and write it on their¹ hearts; ^cand I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for ^athey all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For ^bI will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

35 Thus says the Lord,
^aWho gives the sun for a light by day,
The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
Who disturbs ^bthe sea,
And its waves roar
^c(The Lord of hosts is His name):

36 “If ^athose ordinances depart
From before Me, says the Lord,
Then the seed of Israel shall also cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”

37 Thus says the Lord:
^a“If heaven above can be measured,
And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
I will also ^bcast off all the seed of Israel
For all that they have done, says the Lord.

38 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord ^afrom the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

39 ^aThe surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath.

40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, ^ato the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, ^bshall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”

Commentaries:

Matthew Henry

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Jeremiah 31:1-40

The restoration of Israel. (1-9) Promises of guidance and happiness; Rachel lamenting. (10-17) Ephraim laments his errors. (18-20) The promised Saviour. (21-26) God's care over the church. (27-34) Peace and prosperity in gospel time. (35-40)

Verses 1-9 God assures his people that he will again take them into covenant relation to himself. When brought very low, and difficulties appear, it is good to remember that it has been so with the church formerly. But it is hard under present frowns to take comfort from former smiles; yet it is the happiness of those who, through grace, are interested in the love of God, that it is an everlasting love, from everlasting in the counsels, to everlasting in the continuance. Those whom God loves with this love, he will draw to himself, by the influences of his Spirit upon their souls. When praising God for what he has done, we must call upon him for the favours his church needs and expects. When the Lord calls, we must not plead that we cannot come; for he that calls us, will help us, will strengthen us. The goodness of God shall lead them to repentance. And they shall weep for sin with more bitterness, and more tenderness, when delivered out of their captivity, than when groaning under it. If we take God for our Father, and join the church of the first-born, we shall want nothing that is good for us. These predictions doubtless refer also to a future gathering of the Israelites from all quarters of the globe. And they figuratively describe the conversion of sinners to Christ, and the plain and safe way in which they are led.

Verses 10-17 He that scattered Israel, knows where to find them. It is comfortable to observe the goodness of the Lord in the gifts of providence. But our souls are never valuable as gardens, unless watered with the dews of God's Spirit and grace. A precious promise follows, which will not have full accomplishment except in the heavenly Zion. Let them be satisfied of God's loving-kindness, and they will be satisfied with it, and desire no more to make them happy. Rachel is represented as rising from her grave, and refusing to be comforted, supposing her offspring rooted out. The murder of the children at Bethlehem, by Herod, matthew 2:16-18 , in some degree fulfilled this prediction, but could not be its full meaning. If we have hope in the end, concerning an eternal inheritance, for ourselves and those belonging to us, all temporal afflictions may be borne, and will be for our good.

Verses 18-20 Ephraim (the ten tribes) is weeping for sin. He is angry at himself for his sin, and folly, and frowardness. He finds he cannot, by his own power, keep himself close with God, much less bring himself back when he is revolted. Therefore he prays, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned. His will was bowed to the will of God. When the teaching of God's Spirit went with the corrections of his providence, then the work was done. This is our comfort in affliction, that the Lord thinks upon us. God has mercy in store, rich mercy, sure mercy, suitable mercy, for all who seek him in sincerity.

Verses 21-26 The way from the bondage of sin to the liberty of God's children, is a high-way. It is plain, it is safe; yet none are likely to walk in it, unless they set their hearts towards it. They are encouraged by the promise of a new, unheard-of, extraordinary thing; a creation, a work of Almighty power; the human nature of Christ, formed and prepared by the power of the Holy Ghost: and this is here mentioned as an encouragement to the Jews to return to their own land. And a comfortable prospect is given them of a happy settlement there. Godliness and honesty God has joined: let no man think to put them asunder, or to make the one atone for the want of the other. In the love and favour of God the weary soul shall find rest, and the sorrowful shall find joy. And what can we see with more satisfaction than the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon Israel?

Verses 27-34 The people of God shall become numerous and prosperous. In hebrews 8:8,9 , this place is quoted as the sum of the covenant of grace made with believers in Jesus Christ. Not, I will give them a new law; for Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it; but the law shall be written in their hearts by the finger of the Spirit, as formerly written in the tables of stone. The Lord will, by his grace, make his people willing people in the day of his power. All shall know the Lord; all shall be welcome to the knowledge of God, and shall have the means of that knowledge. There shall be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, at the time the gospel is published. No man shall finally perish, but for his own sins; none, who is willing to accept of Christ's salvation.

Verses 35-40 As surely as the heavenly bodies will continue their settled course, according to the will of their Creator, to the end of time, and as the raging sea obeys him, so surely will the Jews be continued a separate people. Words can scarcely set forth more strongly the restoration of Israel. The rebuilding of Jerusalem, and its enlargement and establishment, shall be an earnest of the great things God will do for the gospel church. The personal happiness of every true believer, as well as the future restoration of Israel, is secured by promise, covenant, and oath. This Divine love passes knowledge; and to those who take hold upon it, every present mercy is an earnest of salvation.

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