31
1 Thus saith Hashem:
The Am seridei cherev (the People that survived the cherev)*
found chen (grace) in the midbar;
even Yisroel, when Yisroel journeyed to find [a place of] rest.
2 Hashem hath appeared of old unto me, saying:
Yes, I have loved thee with an ahavat olam;
therefore with chesed have I drawn thee.
3 Again I will build thee up,
and thou shalt be rebuilt, O Betulat Yisroel;
thou shalt again adorn thyself with thy timbrels,
and shalt go forth in the dance of merrymakers.
4 Thou shalt yet plant keramim upon the hills of Shomron;
the planters shall plant, and shall put the fruit to ordinary use.†
5 For there shall be a yom,
that the notzrim (watchmen) upon har Ephrayim shall cry:
Arise ye, and let us go up to Tziyon
unto Hashem Eloheinu.
6 For thus saith Hashem:
Sing with simcha for Ya'akov,
and shout among the Rosh HaGoyim;
publish ye, hallelu (praise ye), and say:
Hashem, save Thy people,
the She'erit Yisroel (the Remnant of Israel).
7 Hineni, I will bring them from the eretz tzafon (land of the north),
and gather them from the ends of ha'aretz,
and with them the ivver (blind) and the pise'ach (lame),
the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together;
a Kahal Gadol shall return here.
8 They shall come with weeping,
and with techinnunim will I lead them back;
I will cause them to walk by the nachalei mayim (streams of water)
in a derech yashar (straight road),
wherein they shall not stumble;
for I am an Av to Yisroel,
and Ephrayim is My bechor.
9 Hear the Devar Hashem, O ye Goyim,
and preach it in the farthest shores, and say:
He that scattered Yisroel will gather Yisroel,
and He shall be shomer over Yisroel, like a Ro'eh over the Eder thereof.
10 For Hashem hath redeemed Ya'akov,
and made Geulah (Redemption) for Ya'akov out of the yad of him that was chazak more than Ya'akov.
11 Therefore they shall come and sing on the height of Tziyon,
and shall stream to the Tuv Hashem(Bounty, Goodness of Hashem),
for dagan (grain), and for tirosh (new wine) and for yitzhar (pure olive oil)
and for the young of the tzon and of the herd;
and their nefesh shall be like a well-watered gan (garden);
and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
12 Then shall the betulah rejoice in the machol (dance),
both bocherim (young men) and zekenim together;
for I will turn their evel (mourning) into sasson (joy),
and will comfort them, and make them have simcha from their sorrow.
13 And I will satisfy the nefesh of the Kohanim with deshen (fatness, abundance)
and My people shall be sated with My Tuv (Bounty, Goodness),
saith Hashem.
14 Thus saith Hashem:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
lamentation, and bitter weeping;
Rachel, weeping for her banim,
refused to be comforted for her banim,
because they were no more.‡
15 Thus saith Hashem:
Refrain thy voice from weeping,
and thine eyes from tears;
for sachar (reward) there will be for thy labor,
saith Hashem;
and they shall return from the eretz oyev (land of the enemy).
16 And there is tikveh (hope) in thine acharit (future, latter end),
saith Hashem,
that thy banim shall return to their own border.
17 I have surely heard Ephrayim bemoaning himself thus:
Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised,
like an unbroken egel;
turn Thou me, and I shall be turned;
for Thou art Hashem Elohai.
18 Surely after I turned away, I made teshuva;
and after I was instructed, I beat upon my yarech (thigh);
I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated,
because nasati cherpat neurai (I did bear, carry the reproach, disgrace of my youth).
19 Is Ephrayim My ben yakir (dear son)?
Is he a yeled in whom I delight?
For though I spoke rebuke of him,
I do earnestly remember him still;
therefore My heart yearns for him;
I will surely have rachamim (mercy) upon him,
saith Hashem.
20 Set thee up tziyyunim (roadmarks, road signs),
make thee tamurim (guideposts);
set thine lev upon the highway,
even the derech thou art now walking;
turn back, O Betulat Yisroel,
turn back to these thy towns.
21 How long wilt thou dillydally,
O Bat HaShovevah (backsliding daughter)?
For Hashem barah chadashah (Hashem hath created a new thing) on ha'aretz;
A nekevah (woman, female),§ shall encircle a gever (man, male).*
22 Thus saith Hashem Tzva'os Elohei Yisroel: Once again they shall use this saying in Eretz Yehudah and in the towns thereof, when I shall turn them back from their captivity;
Yevarechecha Adonoi, neveh tzedek,
har hakodesh (may Hashem bless thee, O Righteous Abode, O Har HaKodesh)!
23 There shall dwell in Yehudah itself, in all the towns thereof together, ikkarim (farmers); they also that go forth with the eder. 24 For I will refresh the nefesh of the weary, and I will replenish even the stress-laden nefesh.
25 Upon this, I awoke, and beheld; and my sheynah (sleep) was sweet unto me.
26 Hinei, the days are coming, saith Hashem, that I will sow again Bais Yisroel and Bais Yehudah with the zera adam (human seed),† and also with the zera behemah (animal seed).‡ 27 And it shall come to pass, that just as I watched over them, to uproot, and to tear down, and to overthrow, and to destroy, and to bring catastrophe; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith Hashem. 28 In those days they shall say no more:
The Avot have eaten the sour grape,
and the shinayim (teeth) of the Banim are set on edge.
29 But every one shall die for his own avon (iniquity); kol haAdam that eateth the sour grape, his shinayim shall be set on edge.
30 Hinei, the days come, saith Hashem, that I will cut a Brit Chadasha with Bais Yisroel, and with Bais Yehudah; 31 Not according to the Brit that I cut with their Avot in the day that I took hold of their yad to take them out of Eretz Mitzrayim; which My Brit they broke, although I was Ba'al (Husband) to them, saith Hashem; 32 But this shall be the Brit that I will cut with Bais Yisroel;§ After those days, saith Hashem, I will set My Torah in them inwardly, and I will write ketuvim on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My People. 33 And they shall teach no more every ish his re'a (neighbor), and every ish his brother, saying, Know Hashem; for they shall all have da'as of Me, from the katon of them unto the gadol of them, saith Hashem; for I will forgive their avon, and I will remember their chattat no more.
34 Thus saith Hashem,
which giveth the shemesh for an ohr by day,
and the chukkot yarei'ach and chukkot kokhavim for an ohr by night,
which stirreth up the sea when the waves thereof roar;
Hashem Tzva'os is Shmo:
35 If those chukkim depart from before Me,
saith Hashem,
then the Zera Yisroel also shall cease
from being a Goy (Nation) before Me forever.
36 Thus saith Hashem:
If Shomayim above can be measured,
and, below, the foundations of ha'aretz can be searched out,
I will also cast off kol Zera Yisroel
for all that they have done,
saith Hashem.
37 Hinei, the days are coming, saith Hashem, that the Ir shall be built unto Hashem from the Migdal Chanan'el unto the Sha'ar HaPinnah (Corner Gate). 38 And the measuring line shall yet go forth straight ahead to Garev Hill, and around to Goah. 39 And the whole valley [of Hinnom] of the pegarim (corpses), and of the deshen (ashes), and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the Sha'ar HaSusim (Horse Gate) to the east, shall be kodesh unto Hashem; it shall not be uprooted, nor destroyed any more l'olam.
* 31:1 as a Remnant † 31:4 See Lv 19:24-25 ‡ 31:14 See Mt 2:18 § 31:21 i.e., Israel * 31:21 i.e., G-d † 31:26 i.e., repopulation ‡ 31:26 i.e., replenishing livestock § 31:32 T.N. Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha (OJBC) is Jewish, according to Jeremiah