Background
Jeremiah 31 sits in the middle of chapters 30–33, which the Bible Dictionary places among the prophecies under Zedekiah (597–586 B.C.) as “prophecies of the latter-day restoration of Israel and the gospel covenant.” They foretell “the restoration of Israel and Judah in the last days and … the Lord’s making a new and everlasting covenant with them.”
The chapter itself carries no date. Chapter 32, which follows, is dated to “the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar,” while Babylon besieged Jerusalem (Jer. 32:1–2). Chapters 30–31 may come from the same period or somewhat earlier; there is no agreement on when they were composed. Jeremiah is told to write these words “in a book,” for “the days come” when the Lord will bring His people back (Jer. 30:2–3).
The prophet whose book is mostly warning is told to write down a book of hope. Two New Testament writers rely on this chapter: Matthew quotes verse 15 (Matt. 2:17–18), and the letter to the Hebrews quotes verses 31–34 at length (Heb. 8:8–12; Heb. 10:16–17).
The thread through the chapter
Jeremiah 31 answers one question: after the covenant has been broken and the people scattered, what is left to build on? The chapter’s answer is God Himself, and it moves in four steps.
First, His love comes before their repentance: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (verse 3). On that ground He promises to rebuild and gather, and the gathering is the Lord’s own work, leading a weeping people by waters, with a straight path (verses 4–14). Second, the grief is real, and the chapter does not rush past it. Rachel weeps and will not be comforted, yet the Lord tells her to stop weeping, for her children will return (verses 15–17). Ephraim confesses and is answered with a parent’s pity (verses 18–20).
Third, the chapter turns from the people to the person. The old proverb that children bear their fathers’ sins gives way to “every one shall die for his own iniquity” (verses 29–30), and then comes the center of the chapter and its best-known promise: a new covenant, not like Sinai, with the law written “in their inward parts” (verses 31–34). Fourth, that covenant is anchored in something fixed: sun, moon, stars, and a city to be rebuilt and holy “for ever” (verses 35–40).
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
An everlasting love and a rebuilt Israel
At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people. Those who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness when I came to give Israel rest. The Lord appeared to me and said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, and so I have drawn you with kindness. I will build you again, virgin Israel. You will take up your tambourines and join the dances. You will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria and enjoy their fruit. A day is coming when watchmen on Ephraim’s hills will call, ‘Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’”
1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
Gathered from the north
Sing for joy for Jacob. Shout over the foremost of the nations. Praise and say, “Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.” I will bring them from the north and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, mothers expecting and in labor. A great company will return. They will come weeping, and I will lead them with prayers beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, for I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn. Nations, hear and tell the far coasts: the One who scattered Israel will gather and watch over him as a shepherd does his flock. He has redeemed Jacob from one stronger than he. They will come and sing on the heights of Zion, glad over the grain, wine, oil, and flocks. Their life will be like a watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. Young women will dance, young and old together. I will turn their mourning to gladness and satisfy the priests and my people with good things.
7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
Rachel’s tears and Ephraim’s return
A voice is heard in Ramah, bitter weeping: Rachel is weeping for her children and refuses to be comforted, because they are gone. But the Lord says, “Hold back your tears. Your work will be rewarded, and your children will return from the enemy’s land. There is hope for your future.” I have heard Ephraim say, “You disciplined me, and I was disciplined like an untrained calf. Bring me back, and I will return, for you are the Lord my God. After I turned away I repented. After I was taught, I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, for I carried the disgrace of my youth.” Is Ephraim my dear son, my delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. My heart aches for him, and I will surely have mercy on him. Set up road markers. Fix your mind on the road by which you left, and come back, virgin Israel, to your cities. How long will you wander, faithless daughter? The Lord has created something new in the land: a woman will surround a man.
15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
Judah restored, and a sweet sleep
When I restore their fortunes, they will again say in Judah and its towns, “The Lord bless you, home of righteousness, holy mountain.” Farmers and shepherds will live there together. I have refreshed the weary and satisfied everyone who languished. At this I woke and looked around, and my sleep had been sweet.
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.
Every one for his own sin
The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with people and with animals. As I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to destroy and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and plant. In those days they will no longer say, “The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Each will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes will have his own teeth set on edge.
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.
The new covenant
The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them. This is the covenant I will make with Israel after those days: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No one will teach neighbor or brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for all of them, from least to greatest, will know me. I will forgive their wrongdoing and remember their sin no more.
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.
As sure as sun and stars
The Lord, who gives the sun by day and sets the moon and stars in order by night, who stirs the sea so its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name), says: If those fixed orders ever disappear from before me, then the offspring of Israel will cease to be a nation before me. If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, then I will reject all Israel for all they have done. The days are coming when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will go on to Gareb hill and turn to Goah. The whole valley of corpses and ashes, and all the fields to the Kidron Valley, as far as the corner of the Horse Gate on the east, will be holy to the Lord. It will never again be uprooted or torn down.
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.
Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 31
The chapter’s center is a covenant that Hebrews says Christ mediates: He “is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (Heb. 8:6). Joseph Smith says that Christ “in the days of His flesh, proposed to make a covenant with them,” and names its requirements as repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Restoration scriptures call baptism “a new and an everlasting covenant” (D&C 22:1). The chapter’s other great scene is Rachel at Ramah, which Matthew takes up at Christ’s birth (Matt. 2:17–18). Before any of this, verse 3 stands: love that comes first, “with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
Worth exploring next
- The new covenant in the New Testament. Read Heb. 8 and Heb. 10:16–22 beside verses 31–34.
- The rest of the book of comfort. Read Jer. 30, Jer. 32, and Jer. 33 with this chapter.
- Law written within. Compare Ezek. 36:24–28 and 2 Cor. 3:1–6.
- The gathering of Ephraim. Read D&C 133:26–34 and Gen. 48:8–20.
- Ezekiel’s answer to the proverb. Read Ezek. 18 as a companion to verses 29–30.
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
- Matt. 2:17–18 — Matthew quotes verse 15 at the killing of the Bethlehem children.
- Heb. 8:8–12 — Quotes verses 31–34 at length.
- Heb. 10:16–17 — Quotes verses 33–34 again.
- Ezek. 18:2–4 — The proverb of verse 29 quoted and denied.
Sources & further reading
- “Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Ephraim”, Bible Dictionary.
- Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
- Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
- The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Westminster Leningrad Codex (the Masoretic Hebrew text), Read in the Hebrew–English interlinear on Bible Hub.
- Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.
- The Septuagint (Rahlfs Greek text, with Brenton’s English translation), Elpenor Bilingual Septuagint.