Loved with an Everlasting Love
Homecoming for scattered Israel: Rachel's weeping answered, Ephraim brought back like a firstborn son, mourning turned to dancing, and a new covenant written on hearts rather than tablets, where sin is forgiven and everyone knows the Father directly, least to greatest.
31 1"At that time," declares our Father, "I will be the Father of all Israel's families, and they will be my children."
2This is what our Father says: The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; Israel went to find rest.
3From far away our Father appeared to me: "I have loved you with everlasting love; so I have drawn you to myself with faithful love."
4"Again I will build you, and you will be built, virgin Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in the dance of those who celebrate. 5Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the planters will plant and enjoy the fruit." 6For there will be a day when the watchmen call out in the hill country of Ephraim: "Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to our Father!"
7For this is what our Father says: Sing with joy for Jacob, shout for the greatest of nations; proclaim, praise, and say, 'Our Father, save your people, the remnant of Israel!' 8"See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth—among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and the one in labor. Together they will return here, a great company. 9With weeping they will come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of water, on a level path where they will not stumble, for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."
10Hear the word of our Father, nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock." 11For our Father has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from a hand too strong for him. 12They will come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the goodness of our Father—over the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd. Their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never be worn down by sorrow again.
13"Then the young women will rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness in place of their sorrow. 14I will fill the priests with abundance, and my children will be satisfied with my goodness," declares our Father.
15This is what our Father says: A voice is heard in Ramah—wailing and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are gone. a a v15 Matthew sees this lament fulfilled in the weeping at Bethlehem when Herod killed the children (Matthew 2:18) — and our Father's promise of return in the verses that follow points to the hope beyond the grief.
16This is what our Father says: Hold your voice back from weeping, your eyes from tears, for your work has a reward, declares our Father; they will return from the enemy's land. 17"There is hope for your future, declares our Father, and your children will return to their own land. 18I have surely heard Ephraim grieving: 'You disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back so I can return, for you are my Father.' 19For after I turned away, I repented; after I was instructed, I struck my thigh. I was ashamed and humiliated, because I bore the disgrace of my youth. b b v19 Striking the thigh was an ancient gesture expressing deep grief or horror. 20Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart is moved with compassion for him; I will surely have mercy on him," declares our Father. 21"Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself signposts. Fix your mind on the highway, the road you walked. Return, virgin Israel, return to your own cities. 22How long will you waver, faithless daughter? For I have created a new thing on the earth: a woman will surround a man."
23This is what the Father of heaven's armies, the Father of Israel, says: When I restore their fortunes, they will again say this in Judah's land and its cities: 'Our Father bless you, home of righteousness, holy mountain!' 24Judah and all its cities will live there together—farmers and those who move with their flocks. 25"For I will refresh the weary soul and fill every soul worn down by sorrow."
26At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep had been sweet to me.
27"Days are coming, declares our Father, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast. 28As I watched over them to uproot, tear down, overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares our Father. 29"In those days they will no longer say: 'Fathers ate sour grapes, and their children's teeth are set on edge.'"
30"Each will die for his own sin. Whoever eats sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge."
31"The days are coming, declares our Father, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. c c v31 Jesus inaugurated this new covenant at the Last Supper, in his own blood (Luke 22:20); Hebrews names him the mediator who makes our Father's promise sure (Hebrews 8:8-12). 32It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke, though I was a husband to them," declares our Father. 33"But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares our Father: I will put my instruction within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their Father, and they will be my children. 34No longer will anyone teach their neighbor or their brother, saying, 'Know our Father,' for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares our Father. For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will remember their sin no more."
35This is what our Father says, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar—the Father of heaven's armies is his name:
36"If this fixed order ever departs from before me, declares our Father, then the children of Israel would cease to be a nation before me forever." 37This is what our Father says: If the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, then I would reject all the children of Israel for all they have done, declares our Father.
38"Days are coming, declares our Father, when the city is rebuilt for me, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line will extend farther, straight to the hill of Gareb, then turn toward Goah. 40The whole valley of dead bodies and ashes, and all the terraces to the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate on the east, will be holy to our Father—never again uprooted or torn down."
