LHC Midday Word: The Book of JEREMIAH

1 ‘At that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.’

2 This is what the Lord says:

‘The people who survive the sword

will find favour in the wilderness;

I will come to give rest to Israel.’

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

‘I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

I will build you up again,

and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.

Again you will take up your tambourines

and go out to dance with the joyful.

Again you will plant vineyards

on the hills of Samaria;

the farmers will plant them

and enjoy their fruit.

There will be a day when watchmen cry out

on the hills of Ephraim,

“Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.”’

7 This is what the Lord says:

‘Sing with joy for Jacob;

shout for the foremost of the nations.

Make your praises heard, and say,

“Lord, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.”

See, I will bring them from the land of the north

and gather them from the ends of the earth.

Among them will be the blind and the lame,

expectant mothers and women in labour;

a great throng will return.

They will come with weeping;

they will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead them beside streams of water

on a level path where they will not stumble,

because I am Israel’s father,

and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

‘Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;

proclaim it in distant coastlands:

“He who scattered Israel will gather them

and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.”

For the Lord will deliver Jacob

and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.

They will come and shout for joy

on the heights of Zion;

they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord –

the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,

the young of the flocks and herds.

They will be like a well-watered garden,

and they will sorrow no more.

Then young women will dance and be glad,

young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning into gladness;

I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

I will satisfy the priests with abundance,

and my people will be filled with my bounty,’

declares the Lord.

15 This 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.’

16 This is what the Lord says:

‘Restrain your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,

for your work will be rewarded,’

declares the Lord.

‘They will return from the land of the enemy.

So there is hope for your descendants,’

declares the Lord.

‘Your children will return to their own land.

‘I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:

“You disciplined me like an unruly calf,

and I have been disciplined.

Restore me, and I will return,

because you are the Lord my God.

After I strayed,

I repented;

after I came to understand,

I beat my breast.

I was ashamed and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”

Is not Ephraim my dear son,

the child in whom I delight?

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.

‘Set up road signs;

put up guideposts.

Take note of the highway,

the road that you take.

Return, Virgin Israel,

return to your towns.

How long will you wander,

unfaithful Daughter Israel?

The Lord will create a new thing on earth –

the woman will return to the man.’

23 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: “The Lord bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.” 24 People will live together in Judah and all its towns – farmers and those who move about with their flocks. 25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.’

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

27 ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,’ declares the Lord.

29 ‘In those days people will no longer say,

“The parents have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”

Instead, everyone will die for their own sin;

whoever eats sour grapes

their own teeth will be set on edge.

‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord,

‘when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant

I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to them,’

declares the Lord.

‘This is the covenant that I will make

with the people of Israel

after that time,’ declares the Lord.

‘I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

No longer will they teach their neighbour,

or say to one another, “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 wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.’

35 This is what the Lord says,

he who appoints the sun

to shine by day,

who decrees the moon and stars

to shine by night,

who stirs up the sea

so that its waves roar –

the Lord Almighty is his name:

‘Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’

declares the Lord,

‘will Israel ever cease

being a nation before me.’

37 This is what the Lord says:

‘Only if the heavens above can be measured

and the foundations of the earth

below be searched out

will I reject all the descendants of Israel

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. 39 The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.’

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READINGS

The Book of JEREMIAH

Chapter Thirty One

Read by Sir David Suchet