23 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 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks. |
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. |
26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me. |
27 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 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 they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. |
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. |
31 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 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 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 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. |
35 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 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 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 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 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. |
40 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. |
31 The restoration of Israel published, Jer 31:1-14.
Rachel mourning is comforted, Jer 31:15-17.
Ephraim repenting is brought home, Jer 31:18-21.
Christ promised, Jer 31:22-26.
His care over the church, Jer 31:27-30.
His new covenant, Jer 31:31-34.
The stability and enlargement of the church, Jer 31:35-40.
31:23 The Lord of hosts - These prophecies of the restoration of the Jews, are ordinarily prefaced with these two attributes of God, the one of which asserts his power to do the thing promised; the other his goodness to his people.
31:25 For - The words are a promise, that God would give his people abundance of ease and plenty.
31:26 Upon this I awaked - Probably this revelation was made to Jeremiah, in a dream.
31:27 I will sow - That is, I will exceedingly multiply them, both with men and with cattle.
31:31 Behold - And not only with the Jews, but all those who should be ingrafted into that Olive. It is not called the new covenant, because it was as to the substance new, for it was made with Abraham, Gen 17:7,and with the Jews, Deu 26:17-18, but because it was revealed after a new manner, more fully and particularly, plainly and clearly.Nor was the ceremonial law any part of it, as it was to the Jews, a strict observance of that. It was likewise new in regard of the efficacy of the spirit attending it, in a much fuller and larger manner.
31:32 Not according - The covenant which God made with the Jews when they came out of the land of Egypt, was on God's part the law which he gave them, with the promises annexed; on their part (which made it a formal covenant) their promise of obedience to it.
31:33 With - That is, with those who are Jews inwardly.And write it - The prophet's design is here to express the difference betwixt the law and the gospel. The first shews duty, the latter brings the grace of regeneration, by which the heart is changed, and enabled for duty. All under the time of the law that came to salvation, were saved by this new covenant; but this was not evidently exhibited; neither was the regenerating grace of God so common under the time of the law, as it hath been under the gospel.
31:34 I will forgive - God makes the root of all this grace to be the free pardon, and the remission of their sins.
31:36 Those ordinances - The ordinances of nature, which are God's establishments for the working of natural causes in their order.
31:37 I will cast off - That is, I will never cast off all the seed of Israel.
31:38 The city - Shall be built round, as largely as ever.
31:39 The line - That is, it shall be built round about upon its old foundations.
31:40 The valley - A valley, so called from the multitude of Sennacherib's army slain there. Of the ashes - So called from the ashes of the sacrifices carried thither. Holy - All these places shall be parts of the holy city, and God's name shall be sanctified, and he shall be worshipped in them all. For ever - If we interpret the word for ever of a perpetuity, the church of God must here be understood, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail.