Jeremiah 38
I Will Write My Law Upon Their Hearts
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I Will Be God to All the Families of Israel
38:1At that time, said the Lord, I will be God to Israel’s family, and they will be My people.
38:2Thus said the Lord: I found warmth in the wilderness among those who perished by the sword. Go, and do not destroy Israel.
I Loved You with an Everlasting Love
38:3The Lord appeared to him from afar: I loved you with an eternal love; therefore I drew you into compassion.
38:4Again I will build you, and you will be built, virgin Israel. Again you will take your tambourine and go out with a gathering of people playing.
38:5Again plant vineyards on Samaria’s mountains; plant and praise.
38:6Because there is a day of calling by those making their defense in Ephraim’s mountains: Rise and go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.
Rejoice for Jacob
38:7Because thus said the Lord to Jacob: Rejoice and neigh aloud toward the head of the nations; make it heard and praise. Say: The Lord saved His people, Israel’s remnant!
38:8Look, I am bringing them from the north and will gather them from the earth’s farthest end at the Passover festival. You will bear a great crowd, and they will return here.
38:9They went out with weeping, and with encouragement I will bring them up, lodging them beside water channels on a straight road where they will certainly not wander, because I became Israel’s father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.
38:10Hear the Lord’s word, nations, and announce it to the farther islands. Say: He who winnowed Israel will gather him and guard him like one tending his flock.
38:11Because the Lord ransomed Jacob and rescued him from the hand of those stronger than he.
38:12They will come and rejoice on Mount Zion; they will come for the Lord’s good things, to a land of grain, wine, fruits, livestock, and sheep. Their life will be like a fruitful tree, and they will hunger no more.
38:13Then virgins will rejoice in a gathering of young men, and elders will rejoice. I will turn their mourning into gladness and make them joyful.
38:14I will magnify and fill the priests’ souls to abundance, the sons of Levi, and My people will be filled with My good things.
A Voice Was Heard in Ramah
38:15Thus said the Lord: A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and wailing. Rachel, weeping aloud, would not stop over her sons, because they are no more.
38:16Thus said the Lord: Let your voice cease from weeping and your eyes from your tears, because your works have a reward, and they will return from enemies’ land,
38:17a lasting stay for your children.
38:18I surely heard Ephraim wailing: You disciplined me, and I was disciplined; like a calf I was not taught. Turn me back, and I will return, because You are the Lord my God.
After My Captivity I Repented
38:19Because after my captivity I repented, and after I came to know, I groaned over days of shame and showed You that I received reproach from my youth.
38:20Ephraim is a beloved son to Me, a child taking delight, because My words are in him; I will surely remember him. Therefore I hastened toward him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.
38:21Stand firm, Zion; carry out punishment; set your heart upon the shoulders. Turn back along the road you traveled, virgin Israel; turn back to your cities in mourning.
38:22How long will you turn away, dishonored daughter? Because the Lord created salvation for a new planting; people will go about in salvation.
They Will Again Say in Judah’s Land
38:23Thus said the Lord: They will again say this word in Judah’s land and its cities when I return its captivity: Blessed is the Lord over the righteous mountain, His holy mountain,
38:24and those dwelling in Judah’s cities and all its land together with a farmer; and he will be lifted up with a flock.
38:25Because I filled every thirsty soul to abundance and filled every hungry soul.
38:26Therefore I awoke and saw, and my sleep became sweet to me.
I Will Sow Israel and Judah
38:27Therefore look, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will sow Israel and Judah with human seed and livestock seed.
38:28And just as I watched over them to tear down and harm, so I will watch over them to build and plant, says the Lord.
38:29In those days they will certainly not say: The fathers ate an unripe grape, and the children’s teeth were set on edge.
38:30Instead, each will die in his own sin, and the one eating the unripe grape will have his own teeth set on edge.
A New Covenant with Israel’s House and Judah’s House
38:31Look, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with Israel’s house and Judah’s house,
38:32not according to the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took their hand to bring them out of Egypt’s land, because they did not remain in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.
38:33Because this is the covenant I will make with Israel’s house after those days, says the Lord: I will surely put My laws into their understanding and write them upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
38:34And they will certainly not teach each his fellow citizen or his brother, saying, Know the Lord, because they will all know Me, from their least to their greatest. I will be merciful toward their injustices and certainly remember their sins no more.
Israel Will Not Be Rejected
38:35If the heaven is raised to the height, says the Lord, and the earth’s ground lowered beneath, even then I do not reject Israel’s family, says the Lord, for all they did.
38:36Thus said the Lord, who gave the sun for daylight, moon and stars for night light, and a cry in the sea so its waves boomed—the Lord Almighty is His name:
38:37If these laws cease from before Me, says the Lord, then Israel’s family will cease to be a nation before Me for all days.
38:38Look, days are coming, says the Lord, and a city will be built for the Lord from Hanamel’s tower to the Corner Gate.
The Measurement of the City
38:39And its measurement will go out opposite them as far as Gareb’s hills, and it will be enclosed all around with chosen stones.
38:40And all Asaremoth as far as the Kidron wadi, to the corner of the eastern Horse Gate, will be a sanctuary for the Lord. It will certainly never disappear or be torn down forever.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.