The Book of JEREMIAH - Chapter Thirty One

 

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.

4 

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.

5 

Again you will plant vineyards

    on the hills of Samaria;

the farmers will plant them

    and enjoy their fruit.

6 

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.”

8 

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.

9 

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.

10 

‘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.”

11 

For the Lord will deliver Jacob

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

12 

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.

13 

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.

14 

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.

17 

So there is hope for your descendants,’

declares the Lord.

    ‘Your children will return to their own land.

18 

‘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.

19 

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.”

20 

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.

21 

‘Set up road signs;

    put up guideposts.

Take note of the highway,

    the road that you take.

Return, Virgin Israel,

    return to your towns.

22 

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.”

30 

Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; 

whoever eats sour grapes 

their own teeth will be set on edge.

31 

‘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.

32 

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.

33 

‘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.

34 

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:

36 

‘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

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OVERVIEW 

The Book of JEREMIAH

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

Jeremiah  “The Bible in 5”

Tim Mackie (the Bible Project)

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David Pawson

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The Book of JEREMIAH - Chapter Thirty

 

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. 3 The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave to their ancestors to possess,” says the Lord.’

4 These are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: 5 ‘This is what the Lord says:

‘“Cries of fear are heard –

    terror, not peace.

6 

Ask and see:

    can a man bear children?

Then why do I see every strong man

    with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labour,

    every face turned deathly pale?

7 

How awful that day will be!

    No other will be like it.

It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,

    but he will be saved out of it.

8 

‘“In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty,

    “I will break the yoke off their necks

and will tear off their bonds;

    no longer will foreigners enslave them.

9 

Instead, they will serve the Lord their God

    and David their king,

    whom I will raise up for them.

10 

‘“So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;

    do not be dismayed, Israel,”

declares the Lord.

“I will surely save you out of a distant place,

    your descendants from the land of their exile.

Jacob will again have peace and security,

    and no one will make him afraid.

11 

I am with you and will save you,”

    declares the Lord.

“Though I completely destroy all the nations

    among which I scatter you,

    I will not completely destroy you.

I will discipline you but only in due measure;

    I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

12 ‘This is what the Lord says:

‘“Your wound is incurable,

    your injury beyond healing.

13 

There is no one to plead your cause,

    no remedy for your sore,

    no healing for you.

14 

All your allies have forgotten you;

    they care nothing for you.

I have struck you as an enemy would

    and punished you as would the cruel,

because your guilt is so great

    and your sins so many.

15 

Why do you cry out over your wound,

    your pain that has no cure?

Because of your great guilt and many sins

    I have done these things to you.

16 

‘“But all who devour you will be devoured;

    all your enemies will go into exile.

Those who plunder you will be plundered;

    all who make spoil of you I will despoil.

17 

But I will restore you to health

    and heal your wounds,”

declares the Lord,

“because you are called an outcast,

    Zion for whom no one cares.”

18 ‘This is what the Lord says:

‘“I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents

    and have compassion on his dwellings;

the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,

    and the palace will stand in its proper place.

19 

From them will come songs of thanksgiving

    and the sound of rejoicing.

I will add to their numbers,

    and they will not be decreased;

I will bring them honour,

    and they will not be disdained.

20 

Their children will be as in days of old,

    and their community will be established before me;

    I will punish all who oppress them.

21 

Their leader will be one of their own;

    their ruler will arise from among them.

I will bring him near and he will come close to me –

    for who is he who will devote himself

    to be close to me?”

declares the Lord.

22 

‘“So you will be my people,

    and I will be your God.”’

23 

See, the storm of the Lord

    will burst out in wrath,

a driving wind swirling down

    on the heads of the wicked.

24 

The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back

    until he fully accomplishes

    the purposes of his heart.

In days to come

    you will understand this.

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READINGS

The Book of JEREMIAH 

Chapter Thirty

Read by Sir David Suchet

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The Book of JEREMIAH

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

Jeremiah  “The Bible in 5”

Tim Mackie (the Bible Project)

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David Pawson

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The Book of JEREMIAH - Chapter Twenty Nine

 

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16 thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’ 20 Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22 Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23 because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.’”

24 To Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: 25 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 ‘The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have charge in the house of the Lord over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and neck irons. 27 Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? 28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”

29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, 32 therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.’”

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READINGS

The Book of JEREMIAH 

Chapter Twenty Nine

Read by Sir David Suchet

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OVERVIEW 

The Book of JEREMIAH

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

Jeremiah  “The Bible in 5”

Tim Mackie (the Bible Project)

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The Book of JEREMIAH 

David Pawson

Part 1

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The Book of JEREMIAH - Chapter Twenty Eight

 

1 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. 7 Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. 11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

12 Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron. 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’” 15 And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’”

17 In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

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READINGS

The Book of JEREMIAH 

Chapter Twenty Eight

Read by Sir David Suchet

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The Book of JEREMIAH

 - Overview -

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Jeremiah  “The Bible in 5”

Tim Mackie (the Bible Project)

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David Pawson

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The Book of JEREMIAH - Chapter Twenty Seven

1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. 2 Thus the Lord said to me: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3 Send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

8 “‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.”’”

12 To Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live. 13 Why will you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15 I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a desolation? 18 If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then let them intercede with the Lord of hosts, that the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19 For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.”

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READINGS

The Book of JEREMIAH 

Chapter Twenty Seven

Read by Sir David Suchet

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The Book of JEREMIAH

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

Jeremiah  “The Bible in 5”

Tim Mackie (the Bible Project)

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The Book of JEREMIAH 

David Pawson

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