CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Jeremiah 31
Chapter 31 of 52
Chapter Overview
What happens in Jeremiah 31
This chapter is the heart of the Book of Consolation and contains some of the most important promises in the Bible. God declares his everlasting love for Israel. Rachel weeps for her children, but God promises they will return. Most importantly, God promises a new covenant: he will write his law on their hearts and forgive their sins forever.
Scripture
Jeremiah 31
God's Everlasting Love
Study note
God promises to be the God of all the families of Israel. He has loved them with an everlasting love and drawn them with unfailing kindness. He will rebuild Israel, and they will again plant vineyards and worship at Zion.
1 "When that time comes," says the Lord, "I will be the God of every family in Israel. They will be my people." At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2 The Lord says, "The people who survived the sword found kindness in the wilderness. When Israel needed rest, I went to them." 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.
3 The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you." The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4 "I will rebuild you, and you will be rebuilt, O people of Israel. Once again you will pick up your tambourines and dance with joy." Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5 "Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria. The farmers who plant them will enjoy eating the fruit." Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6 "A day is coming when watchmen on the hills of Ephraim will call out, 'Come on, let's go up to Zion, to the Lord our God!'" For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
The Great Return
Study note
God will bring his people back from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind, the lame, and expectant mothers. He who scattered Israel will gather them and watch over them like a shepherd. Their mourning will be turned to joy.
7 The Lord says, "Sing for joy for the people of Jacob! Shout for the greatest of nations! Let your praises be heard! Say, 'Lord, save your people, the survivors of Israel!'" For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8 "Watch! I will bring them back from the north and gather them from the farthest corners of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the disabled, pregnant women and women in labor. A great crowd will come home." Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9 "They will come back weeping, and I will guide them as they pray. I will lead them along streams of water on a smooth path where they won't trip, because I am Israel's father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son." They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 "Listen to the Lord's message, you nations. Announce it on the distant coastlines: 'The one who scattered Israel will gather them back and guard them like a shepherd watching over his flock.'" Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 "The Lord has set Jacob free! He has rescued him from an enemy too powerful for him." For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12 "They will come home and sing for joy on the heights of Zion. They will celebrate the Lord's goodness — the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil, the young livestock. Their lives will be like a garden with plenty of water, and they will never be sad again." Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13 "Young women will dance and celebrate, and men both young and old will join in the joy. I will turn their grief into happiness, comfort them, and replace their sorrow with pure delight." Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 "I will fill the priests with abundance, and my people will be completely satisfied with my goodness," says the Lord. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
Rachel Weeps for Her Children
Study note
A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children because they are gone. But God tells her to stop crying because her children will return from the enemy's land. There is hope for the future. Ephraim repents and God's heart yearns for him with compassion.
15 The Lord says, "Crying can be heard in Ramah — desperate sobbing and bitter grief. Rachel is weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are gone." Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16 But the Lord says, "Stop crying and wipe away your tears, because your hard work will be rewarded," says the Lord. "They will come back from the enemy's land." Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17 "There is hope for your future," says the Lord. "Your children will come home to their own land." And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18 "I have certainly heard Ephraim crying: 'You disciplined me, Lord, and I learned my lesson — like a young calf that has not yet been trained. Bring me back to you, and I will come back, because you are the Lord my God.'" I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
19 "'After I wandered away, I was truly sorry. After I understood what I had done, I pounded my chest in grief. I was embarrassed and ashamed because I carried the disgrace of my foolish younger days.'" Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20 "Is not Ephraim my precious child, the one I take delight in? Even though I often speak firmly to him, I never stop thinking about him. My heart aches for him with deep compassion," says the Lord. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 "Set up road markers. Put up signs pointing the way home. Remember the highway, the road you traveled. Come back, people of Israel! Return to your own towns." Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22 "How long will you keep wandering, you unfaithful people? The Lord is creating something completely new on the earth: a woman will surround a man." How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
The New Covenant
Study note
God promises to restore Judah and watch over them to build and plant. People will no longer blame their ancestors for their troubles. Each person will answer for their own sins. Then comes the most profound promise:
23 The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says this. "After I bring them back, the people in Judah will say these words again. 'May the Lord bless you, O sanctuary, O sacred mountain.'" Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24 "Farmers and shepherds alike will live together peacefully in Judah and all its towns." And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25 "I will refresh those who are tired and fill up those who are worn out." For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26 At that point I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been truly peaceful. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will fill the land of Israel and Judah with people and animals." Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
28 "I once watched over them to uproot and tear down. I watched to destroy and bring ruin. Now I will watch over them to build up and plant," says the Lord. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
29 "In those days, people will stop saying, 'The parents ate sour grapes, and the children got the bad taste in their mouths.'" In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
30 "Instead, each person will suffer the consequences of their own sin. Whoever eats the sour grapes will feel the sourness themselves." But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
God's Law Written on Hearts
Study note
God announces the new covenant. Unlike the old covenant made at Sinai, which the people broke, this new covenant will be written on their hearts. Everyone will know the Lord personally, from the least to the greatest. God will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.
31 "The time is coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah." Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 "It won't be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke that covenant, even though I was as faithful to them as a husband," says the Lord. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 "Here is the new covenant I will make with Israel when that time arrives," says the Lord. "I will put my instructions deep inside them and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." But this shall be 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.
34 "No one will need to teach their neighbor or tell their family member, 'You should know the Lord.' Everyone will already know me — from the least important to the most important," says the Lord. "I will forgive what they did wrong and never think about their sins again." And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Israel Will Last Forever
Study note
God stakes the permanence of Israel on the permanence of the sun, moon, and stars. As long as these exist, Israel will remain a nation. If the heavens can be measured and the foundations of the earth explored, only then would God reject Israel. The city will be rebuilt and be holy to the Lord forever.
35 The Lord speaks — he is the one who gives the sun to light up the day, who sets the moon and stars to glow at night, who stirs up the ocean until its waves crash and roar. His name is the Lord of Armies. Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 "Only if these laws of nature ever stop working," says the Lord, "will Israel stop being a nation in my sight." 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.
37 The Lord says this. "Can anyone measure the heavens above? Can anyone search out the earth's base? Only then would I reject Israel for all they have done." Thus saith the LORD; 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.
38 "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when this city will be rebuilt for the Lord, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate." Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39 "The boundary line will extend from there straight out to the hill of Gareb and then curve around to Goah." And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
40 "The whole valley where bodies and ashes are dumped, and all the fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east, all the way to the Horse Gate — all of it will be set apart as holy to the Lord. The city will never again be torn down or destroyed." And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
Key Themes
Themes in Jeremiah 31
God's everlasting loveRachel weeping for her childrenThe new covenant written on heartsPersonal knowledge of God for all peopleComplete forgiveness of sinsRestoration and rebuilding
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Jeremiah Jeremiah 31:15 Matthew 2:17-18
Rachel weeping for her children is quoted by Matthew in connection with Herod's massacre of the infants in Bethlehem, linking the ancient grief of exile with the suffering surrounding Christ's birth.
Jeremiah Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 8:8-12
The new covenant promise is quoted at length in Hebrews as the definitive prophecy fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews argues that this new covenant, written on hearts with full forgiveness of sins, makes the old covenant obsolete.
Jeremiah Jeremiah 31:33 Hebrews 10:16
The promise that God will put His laws in their hearts and write them on their minds is quoted again in Hebrews 10 as evidence that Christ's sacrifice provides the complete forgiveness the new covenant requires.
Apply This Today
Living Jeremiah 31
The new covenant promise is one of the most transformative declarations in all of Scripture: God will write His law on our hearts so that knowing Him becomes personal and internal rather than merely external. This means every person can have direct access to God, and past sins can be completely forgiven and forgotten.
Go Deeper
Study Jeremiah in Covenant Path
Read every chapter with study aids, bookmarks, and daily reading plans — free in the app.