Jeremiah 31

Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 598 BC – 587 BC · Judah alone · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·

40 verses · 1185 words · ~6 min read · ~8 min listen

Mourning Turned to Joy

Matthew 2:16–18

¹“At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”

²This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survived the sword

found favor in the wilderness

when Israel went to find rest.”

³The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.

⁴Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt,

O Virgin Israel.

Again you will take up your tambourines

and go out in joyful dancing.

⁵Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria;

the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.

⁶For there will be a day when watchmen will call out

on the hills of Ephraim,

‘Arise, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God!’”

⁷For this is what the Lord says:

“Sing with joy for Jacob;

shout for the foremost of the nations!

Make your praises heard, and say,

‘O Lord, save Your people,

the remnant of Israel!’

⁸Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north

and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

including the blind and the lame,

expectant mothers and women in labor.

They will return as a great assembly!

⁹They will come with weeping,

and by their supplication I will lead them;

I will make them walk beside streams of waters,

on a level path where they will not stumble.

For I am Israelʼs Father,

and Ephraim is My firstborn.”

¹⁰Hear, O nations, the word of the Lord,

and proclaim it in distant coastlands:

“The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them

as a shepherd keeps his flock.

¹¹For the Lord has ransomed Jacob

and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.

¹²They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;

they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—

the grain, new wine, and oil,

and the young of the flocks and herds.

Their life will be like a well-watered garden,

and never again will they languish.

¹³Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing,

young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning into joy,

and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.

¹⁴I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly,

and will fill My people with My goodness,”

declares the Lord.

¹⁵This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children,

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

“Keep your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,

for the reward for your work will come,

declares the Lord.

Then your children will return

from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷So there is hope for your future,

declares the Lord,

and your children will return

to their own land.

¹⁸I have surely heard Ephraimʼs moaning:

‘You disciplined me severely,

like an untrained calf.

Restore me, that I may return,

for You are the Lord my God.

¹⁹After I returned, I repented;

and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief.

I was ashamed and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

²⁰Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me,

a delightful child?

Though I often speak against him,

I still remember him.

Therefore My heart yearns for him;

I have great compassion for him,”

declares the Lord.

²¹“Set up the road markers,

put up the signposts.

Keep the highway in mind,

the road you have traveled.

Return, O Virgin Israel,

return to these cities of yours.

²²How long will you wander,

O faithless daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing in the land—

a woman will shelter a man.”

²³This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore them from captivity, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the Lord bless you, O righteous dwelling place, O holy mountain.’ ²⁴And Judah and all its cities will dwell together in the land, the farmers and those who move with the flocks, ²⁵for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”

The New Covenant

Hebrews 8:6–13

²⁶At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.

²⁷“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast. ²⁸Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.

²⁹“In those days, it will no longer be said:

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’

³⁰Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah.

³²It will not be like the covenant

I made with their fathers

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of the land of Egypt—

a covenant they broke,

though I was a husband to them,”

declares the Lord.

³³“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, declares the Lord.

I will put My law in their minds

and inscribe it on their hearts.

And I will be their God,

and they will be My people.

³⁴No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother,

saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know Me,

from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquities

and will remember their sins no more.”

³⁵Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of Hosts is His name:

³⁶“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence,

declares the Lord,

would Israelʼs descendants ever cease

to be a nation before Me.”

³⁷This is what the Lord says:

“Only if the heavens above could be measured

and the foundations of the earth below searched out

would I reject all of Israelʼs descendants

because of all they have done,”

declares the Lord.

³⁸“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹The measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah. ⁴⁰The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the Lord. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Footnotes (9)

a v3 Or The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying
b v15 Cited in Matthew 2:18
c v18 That is, the northern kingdom of Israel; also in verse 20
d v20 Hebrew My bowels yearn for him
e v22 Or will surround or will return to
f v23 Or restore their fortunes
g v32 Hebrew; LXX for they did not abide in My covenant, and I disregarded them; see also Syriac.
h v34 Cited in Hebrews 8:8–12and Hebrews 10:16–17
i v38 Literally Behold, the days; alternate MT reading Behold, the days are coming

Study notes on this chapter · 2

Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament

Rachel weeping for her children

Jeremiah pictures Rachel mourning as her descendants are led into exile. Matthew connects the image to the grief in Bethlehem when Herod killed the infants.

When: Jeremiah, c. 587 BC; Herod's massacre, c. 6–4 BC.

Original passageJeremiah 31:15

Where the New Testament applies itMatthew 2:16–18

Ways people read this (1)

Typological: Israel's earlier grief prefigures the later mourning.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament

A new covenant

God promises a new covenant written on hearts, with forgiveness of sins. At the Last Supper Jesus speaks of 'the new covenant in my blood', and Hebrews quotes the whole passage at length.

When: Jeremiah, c. 600–587 BC; Last Supper c. AD 30–33.

Original passageJeremiah 31:31–34

Where the New Testament applies itLuke 22:20Hebrews 8:8–12Hebrews 10:15–17

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

See all prophecy & fulfillment notes →

Jeremiah 31

Mourning Turned to Joyⓘ

The New Covenantⓘ

Study notes on this chapter · 2

Rachel weeping for her children

A new covenant

Mourning Turned to Joy

The New Covenant