31 ¹ "At that time, says Yahweh, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."

31 ² Thus says Yahweh:
"The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
31 ³ Yahweh appeared to him from afar.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
31 ⁴ Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with timbrels,
and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
31 ⁵ Again you shall plant vineyards
upon the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant,
and shall enjoy the fruit.
31 ⁶ For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
in the hill country of Ephraim:
'Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to Yahweh our God.' "

31 ⁷ For thus says Yahweh:
"Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
'Yahweh has saved his people,
the remnant of Israel.'
31 ⁸ Behold, I will bring them from the north country,
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
the woman with child and her who is in travail, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
31 ⁹ With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
for I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my first-born.

31 ¹⁰ "Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands afar off;
say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'
31 ¹¹ For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
31 ¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
and they shall languish no more.
31 ¹³ Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
31 ¹⁴ I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
says Yahweh."
- The LORD's mercy on Israel.  Jr.31.15-22

31 ¹⁵ Thus says Yahweh:
"A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are not."

31 ¹⁶ Thus says Yahweh:
"Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears;
for your work shall be rewarded,
says Yahweh,
and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
31 ¹⁷ There is hope for your future,
says Yahweh,
and your children shall come back to their own country.
31 ¹⁸ I have heard Ephraim bemoaning,
'You have chastened me, and I was chastened,
like an untrained calf;
bring me back that I may be restored,
for you are Yahweh my God.
31 ¹⁹ For after I had turned away I repented;
and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'
31 ²⁰ Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
says Yahweh.

31 ²¹ "Set up waymarks for yourself,
make yourself guideposts;
consider well the highway,
the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
return to these your cities.
31 ²² How long will you waver,
O faithless daughter?
For Yahweh has created a new thing on the earth:
a woman protects a man." - The future prosperity of God's people.  Jr.31.23-40

31 ²³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: