2Thus says the LORD,
         “The people who survived the sword
         Found grace in the wilderness—
         Israel, when it went to find its rest.”

3The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying,
         “I have loved you with an everlasting love;
         Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

4“Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
         O virgin of Israel!
         Again you will take up your tambourines,
         And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.

5“Again you will plant vineyards
         On the hills of Samaria;
         The planters will plant
         And will enjoy them.

6“For there will be a day when watchmen
         On the hills of Ephraim call out,
         ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
         To the LORD our God.’”

7For thus says the LORD,
         “Sing aloud 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 am bringing them from the north country,
         And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
         Among them the blind and the lame,
         The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;
         A great company, they will return here.

9“With weeping they will come,
         And by supplication I will lead them;
         I will make them walk by streams of waters,
         On a straight path in which they will not stumble;
         For I am a father to Israel,
         And Ephraim is My firstborn.”

10Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
         And declare in the coastlands afar off,
         And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
         And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

11For the LORD has ransomed Jacob
         And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

12“They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
         And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—
         Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,
         And over the young of the flock and the herd;
         And their life will be like a watered garden,
         And they will never languish again.

13“Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
         And the young men and the old, together,
         For I will turn their mourning into joy
         And will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.

14“I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance,
         And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the LORD.

15Thus says the LORD,
         “A voice is heard in Ramah,
         Lamentation and bitter weeping.
         Rachel is weeping for her children;
         She refuses to be comforted for her children,
         Because they are no more.”

16Thus says the LORD,
         “Restrain your voice from weeping
         And your eyes from tears;
         For your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD,
         “And they will return from the land of the enemy.

17“There is hope for your future,” declares the LORD,
         “And your children will return to their own territory.

18“I have surely heard Ephraim grieving,
         ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
         Like an untrained calf;
         Bring me back that I may be restored,
         For You are the LORD my God.

19‘For after I turned back, I repented;
         And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh;
         I was ashamed and also humiliated
         Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20“Is Ephraim My dear son?
         Is he a delightful child?
         Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
         I certainly still remember him;
         Therefore My heart yearns for him;
         I will surely have mercy on him,” declares the LORD.

21“Set up for yourself roadmarks,
         Place for yourself guideposts;
         Direct your mind to the highway,
         The way by which you went.
         Return, O virgin of Israel,
         Return to these your cities.

22“How long will you go here and there,
         O faithless daughter?
         For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth—
         A woman will encompass a man.”

      23Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes,
         ‘The LORD bless you, O abode of righteousness,
         O holy hill!’

24“Judah and all its cities will dwell together in it, the farmer and they who go about with flocks. 25“For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.” 26At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

A New Covenant

      27“Behold, 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 with the seed of beast. 28“As I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.

29“In those days they will not say again,
         ‘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 man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.

      31“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

35Thus says the LORD,
         Who gives the sun for light by day
         And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
         Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
         The LORD of hosts is His name:

36“If this fixed order departs
         From before Me,” declares the LORD,
         “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease
         From being a nation before Me forever.”

37Thus says the LORD,
         “If the heavens above can be measured
         And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
         Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
         For all that they have done,” declares the LORD.

      38“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39“The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40“And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
Thus saith Jehovah, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thus saith the Lord: The people were left and escaped from the sword, found grace in the desert: Israel shall to his rest.

Darby Bible Translation
Thus saith Jehovah: The people that were left of the sword have found grace in the wilderness, even Israel, when I go to give him rest.

English Revised Version
Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thus saith the LORD, The people who were left by the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

World English Bible
Thus says Yahweh, The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

Young's Literal Translation
Thus said Jehovah: Found grace in the wilderness Hath a people remaining from the sword Going to cause it to rest -- Israel.What the Stable Creation Teaches
'If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.'--JER. xxxi. 36. This is the seal of the new covenant, which is to be made in days future to the prophet and his contemporaries, with the house of Israel and of Judah. That new covenant is referred to in Hebrews as the fundamental law of Christ's kingdom. Therefore we have the right to take to ourselves the promises which it contains, and to think of 'the house …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

What the Immense Creation Teaches
'If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.'--JER. xxxi. 37. In the former sermon we considered the previous verse as presenting the stability of creation as a guarantee of the firmness of God's gracious covenant. Now we have to consider these grand closing words which bring before us another aspect of the universe as a guarantee for another side of God's gracious …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

August the Twenty-First Satisfaction
"My people shall be satisfied with My goodness." --JEREMIAH xxxi. 10-14. And how unlike is all this to the feasts of the world! There is a great show, but no satisfaction. There is much decorative china, but no nutritious food or drink. "Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again." We rise from the table, and our deepest cravings are unappeased. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" We know. We have had a condiment, but no meat; a showy menu-card, but no reviving feast. Nothing but …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

God in the Covenant
But I have been thinking for the last two or three days, that the covenant of grace excels the other covenant most marvelously in the mighty blessings which it confers. What does the covenant of grace convey? I had thought this morning of preaching a sermon upon "The covenant of grace; what are the blessings it gives to God's children?" But when I began to think of it, there was so much in the covenant, that if I had only read a catalogue of the great and glorious blessings, wrapped up within its …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Two Covenants: their Relation
"It is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid, and one by the freewoman. Howbeit, the one by the bondmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the freewoman is born through promise. Which things contain an allegory: for these women are two covenants." -GAL. iv. 22-24. THERE are two covenants, one called the Old, the other the New. God speaks of this very distinctly in Jeremiah, where He says: "The days come, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not after the …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

The New Covenant
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."--JER. xxxi. 33, 34. ISAIAH has often been called …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Conversion of all that Come.
"Turn Thou me and I shall be turned." --Jer. xxxi. 18. The elect, born again and effectually called, converts himself. To remain unconverted is impossible; but he inclines his ear, he turns his face to the blessed God, he is converted in the fullest sense of the word. In conversion the fact of cooperation on the part of the saved sinner assumes a clearly defined and perceptible character. In regeneration there was none; in the calling there was a beginning of it; in conversion proper it became a …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Old Things are Passed Away.
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Whether the Active Life Remains after this Life?
Objection 1: It would seem that the active life remains after this life. For the acts of the moral virtues belong to the active life, as stated above [3738](A[1]). But the moral virtues endure after this life according to Augustine (De Trin. xiv, 9). Therefore the active life remains after this life. Objection 2: Further, teaching others belongs to the active life, as stated above [3739](A[3]). But in the life to come when "we shall be like the angels," teaching will be possible: even as apparently …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

A Prophet of Peace
[This chapter is based on 2 Kings 4.] The work of Elisha as a prophet was in some respects very different from that of Elijah. To Elijah had been committed messages of condemnation and judgment; his was the voice of fearless reproof, calling king and people to turn from their evil ways. Elisha's was a more peaceful mission; his it was to build up and strengthen the work that Elijah had begun; to teach the people the way of the Lord. Inspiration pictures him as coming into personal touch with the …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings

Waiting Faith Rewarded and Strengthened by New Revelations
'And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

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