Jeremiah 31:1-13 ▼

1 At that time, saith the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to me a people.

2 Thus saith the Lord, I found him warm in the wilderness with them that were slain with the sword: go ye and destroy not Israel.

3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying , I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore have I drawn thee in compassion.

4 For I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt yet take thy timbrel, and go forth with the party of them that make merry.

5 For ye have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria: plant ye, and praise.

6 For it is a day when those that plead on the mountains of Ephraim shall call, saying , Arise ye, and go up to Sion to the Lord your God.

7 For thus saith the Lord to Jacob; Rejoice ye, and exult over the head of the nations: make proclamation, and praise ye: say, The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel.

8 Behold, I bring them from the north, and will gather them from the end of the earth to the feast of the passover: and the people shall beget a great multitude, and they shall return hither.

9 They went forth with weeping, and I will bring them back with consolation, causing them to lodge by the channels of waters in a straight way, and they shall not err in it: for I am become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.

10 Hear the words of the Lord, ye nations, and proclaim them to the islands afar off; say, He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock.

11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them that were stronger than he.

12 And they shall come, and shall rejoice in the mount of Sion, and shall come to the good things of the Lord, even to a land of corn, and wine, and fruits, and cattle, and sheep: and their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more.

13 Then shall the virgins rejoice in the assembly of youth, and the old men shall rejoice; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will make them merry.