Jeremiah 30 - 31, Romans 13, Psalm 107:23-43

Yahweh Will Return the Fortunes of His People

30The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, ²“Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘^aWrite all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. ³‘For behold, ^adays are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘when I will ¹^,^breturn the ²fortunes of My people ^cIsrael and Judah.’ Yahweh says, ‘I will also ^dcause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’”

⁴Now these are the words which Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah:

⁵“For thus says Yahweh, ‘We have heard a sound of ^atrembling,Of dread, and there is no peace.

⁶‘Ask now, and seeIf a male can give birth.Why do I see every manWith his hands on his loins, ^aas a woman in childbirth?And why have all faces turned pale?⁷‘Alas! For that ^aday is great,There is ^bnone like it;And it is the time of Jacob’s ^cdistress,But he will be ^dsaved from it.

⁸‘And it will be in that day,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘that I will ^abreak his yoke from off your neck and will tear off your ^bbonds; and strangers will no longer ^cmake ¹them their slaves. ⁹‘But they shall be a slave to Yahweh their God and ^aDavid their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰‘^aFear not, O Jacob My ¹servant,’ declares Yahweh,‘And do not be dismayed, O Israel;For behold, I will save you ^bfrom afarAnd your seed from the land of their captivity.And Jacob will return and will be ^cquiet and at ease,And ^dno one will make him tremble.¹¹‘For ^aI am with you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘to save you;For I will ^bmake a complete destruction of all the nations where I have scattered you,Only I will ^cnot make a complete destruction of you.But I will ^dchasten you justlyAnd will by no means leave you unpunished.’

¹²“For thus says Yahweh, ‘Your injury is incurable,And your ^awound is desperately sick.

¹³‘There is no one to plead your cause;No healing for your sore,^aNo recovery for you.¹⁴‘All your ^alovers have forgotten you;They do not seek you;For I have ¹^,^bwounded you with the wound of an enemy,With the ^cpunishment of a ^dcruel one,Because your ^einiquity is numerousAnd your ^fsins are mighty.¹⁵‘Why do you cry out over your injury?Your pain is incurable.Because your iniquity is numerousAnd your sins are mighty,I have done these things to you.¹⁶‘Therefore all who ^adevour you will be devoured;And all your adversaries, every one of them, ^bwill go into captivity;And those who take you as spoil will be spoil,And all who plunder you I will give as plunder.¹⁷‘For I will ¹restore you to ²^,^ahealth,And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares Yahweh,‘Because they have called you a ^bbanished one, saying:“It is Zion; no one is seeking her.”’

¹⁸“Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will ¹^,^areturn the ²fortunes of the tents of JacobAnd ^bhave compassion on his dwelling places;And the ^ccity will be rebuilt on its ruin,And the ^dpalace will sit on its just place.

¹⁹‘From them will come forth ^athanksgivingAnd the voice of those who ¹^,^bcelebrate;And I will ^cmultiply them, and they will not decrease;I will also ^dhonor them, and they will not be insignificant.²⁰‘¹Their children also will be as formerly,And ²their congregation shall be ^aestablished before Me;And I will punish all ³their oppressors.²¹‘And ¹their ^amighty one shall be one of them,And ²their ruler shall come forth from ³their midst;And I will ^bbring Him near, and He shall approach Me;For who would dare to give his heart as security to ^capproach Me?’ declares Yahweh.²²‘You shall be ^aMy people,And I will be your God.’”²³Behold, the ^astorm of Yahweh!Wrath has gone forth,A ¹sweeping storm;It will burst on the head of the wicked.²⁴The ^aburning anger of Yahweh will not turn backUntil He has done and until He has establishedThe intent of His heart;In the ^blast days you will understand this.

Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy

31“At that time,” declares Yahweh, “I will be the ^aGod of all the ^bfamilies of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

²Thus says Yahweh, “The people who survived the sword^aFound grace in the wilderness—Israel, when it went to ^bfind its relief.”

³Yahweh appeared to ¹him from afar, saying,“I have ^aloved you with an everlasting love;Therefore I have drawn you with ^blovingkindness.⁴“^aAgain I will build you, and you will be rebuilt,O virgin of Israel!Again you will ¹take up your ^btambourinesAnd go forth to the dances of those ^ccelebrating.⁵“Again you will ^aplant vineyardsOn the ¹hills of Samaria;The planters will plantAnd will ²enjoy them.⁶“For there will be a day when watchmenOn the hills of Ephraim call out,‘Arise, and ^alet us go up to Zion,To Yahweh our God.’”

⁷For thus says Yahweh, “^aSing aloud with gladness for Jacob,And shout among the ^bhead of the nations;Make it heard, give praise, and say,‘O Yahweh, ^csave Your people,The ^dremnant of Israel.’

⁸“Behold, I am ^abringing them from the north country,And I will ^bgather them from the remote parts of the earth,Among them the ^cblind and the ^dlame,The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;A great assembly, they will return here.⁹“^aWith weeping they will come,And by supplication I will lead them;I will make them walk by ^bstreams of waters,On a straight path in which they will ^cnot stumble;For I am a ^dfather to Israel,And Ephraim is ^eMy firstborn.”¹⁰Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations,And declare in the ^acoastlands far away,And say, “He who dispersed Israel will ^bgather himAnd keep him as a ^cshepherd keeps his flock.”¹¹For Yahweh has ^aransomed JacobAnd redeemed him from the hand of him who was ^bstronger than he.¹²“They will ^acome and sing for joy on the ^bheight of Zion,And they will be ^cradiant over the goodness of Yahweh—Over the ^dgrain and the new wine and the oil,And over the young of the ^eflock and the herd;And their soul will be like a ^fwatered garden,And they will never waste away again.¹³“Then the virgin will be glad in the ^adance,And the young men and the old, together,For I will ^bturn their mourning into joyAnd will comfort them and give them ^cgladness for their sorrow.¹⁴“I will ¹fill the soul of the priests with ²richness,And My people will be ^asatisfied with My goodness,” declares Yahweh.

¹⁵Thus says Yahweh, “^aA voice is heard in ^bRamah,Wailing and bitter weeping.Rachel is weeping for her children;She ^crefuses to be comforted for her childrenBecause ^dthey are no more.”

¹⁶Thus says Yahweh, “^aRestrain your voice from weepingAnd your eyes from tears,For your ^bwork will be rewarded,” declares Yahweh,“And they will ^creturn from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷“And there is ^ahope for your future,” declares Yahweh,“And your children will return to their own territory.¹⁸“I have surely heard Ephraim ^agrieving,‘You have ^bchastised me, and I was chastised,Like an untrained ^ccalf;^dCause me to return that I may return,For You are Yahweh my God.¹⁹‘For after I turned away, I ^arepented;And after I was instructed, I ^bslapped my thigh;I was ^cashamed and also dishonoredBecause I bore the reproach of my youth.’²⁰“Is ^aEphraim My dear son?Is he a delightful child?Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,I certainly still remember him;Therefore My ¹^,^binmost being yearns for him;I will surely ^chave compassion on him,” declares Yahweh.²¹“Set up roadmarks for yourself,Place for yourself guideposts;^aSet your heart to the highway,The way by which you went.^bReturn, O virgin of Israel,Return to these your cities.²²“How long will you go here and there,O ^afaithless daughter?For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth—A ¹woman will encompass a man.”

²³Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I ¹^,^areturn their ²fortunes, ‘Yahweh bless you, O ^babode of righteousness,O ^choly hill!’

²⁴“And Judah and all its cities will ^ainhabit it together, the farmer and they who go about with flocks. ²⁵“^aFor I satisfy the weary soul and fill up every soul who wastes away.” ²⁶At this I ^aawoke and looked, and my ^bsleep was pleasant to me.

The New Covenant

²⁷“Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will ^asow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. ²⁸“And it will be that as I have ^awatched over them to ^buproot, to tear down, to pull down, to destroy, and to bring calamity, so I will watch over them to ^cbuild and to plant,” declares Yahweh.

²⁹“In those days they will not say again,‘^aThe fathers have eaten sour grapes,And the children’s teeth are ¹set on edge.’

³⁰“But ^aeveryone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be ¹set on edge.

³¹“^aBehold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will cut a ^bnew covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³²not like the ^acovenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I ^btook them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ^ccovenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh. ³³“But ^athis is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “^bI will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and ^cI will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴“And they will ^anot teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ for they will all ^bknow Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares Yahweh, “for I will ^cforgive their iniquity, and their ^dsin I will remember no more.”

³⁵Thus says Yahweh, Who ^agives the sun for light by dayAnd the statutes for the moon and the stars for light by night,Who ^bstirs up the sea so that its waves roar;^cYahweh of hosts is His name:

³⁶“^aIf these statutes are removedFrom before Me,” declares Yahweh,“Then the seed of Israel also will ^bceaseFrom being a nation before Me ¹forever.”

³⁷Thus says Yahweh, “^aIf the heavens above can be measuredAnd the foundations of the earth searched out below,Then I will also ^breject all the seed of IsraelFor all that they have done,” declares Yahweh.

³⁸“Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when the ^acity will be rebuilt for Yahweh from the ^bTower of Hananel to the ^cCorner Gate. ³⁹“The ^ameasuring line will go out farther, straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. ⁴⁰“And ^athe whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook ^bKidron, to the corner of the ^cHorse Gate toward the east, shall be ^dholy to Yahweh; it will not be uprooted or pulled down anymore forever.”

Be Subject to Government

13Every ¹^,^aperson is to be in ^bsubjection to the governing authorities. For ^cthere is no authority except ²from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God. ²Therefore ¹whoever resists that authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. ³For ^arulers are not a cause of fear for ¹good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of that authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; ⁴for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword in vain, for it is a minister of God, an ^aavenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. ⁵Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of that wrath, but also because of ^aconscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷^aRender to all what is due them: ^btax to whom tax is due; ^ccustom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

⁸Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for ^ahe who loves ¹his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹For this, “^aYou shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, “^bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does not work evil against a neighbor; therefore ^alove is the fulfillment of the Law.

¹¹And do this, knowing the time, that it is ^aalready the hour for you to ^bawaken from sleep; for now ¹salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. ¹²^aThe night is almost gone, and ^bthe day is at hand. Therefore let us lay aside ^cthe deeds of darkness and put on ^dthe armor of light. ¹³Let us ^awalk properly as in the day, ^bnot in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴But ^aput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh ^bin regard to its lusts.

²³Those who ^ago down to the sea in ships,Who do business on many waters;²⁴They have seen the works of Yahweh,And His wondrous deeds in the deep.²⁵He ^aspoke and set up a ^bstormy wind,Which ^craised up the waves ¹of the sea.²⁶They went up to the heavens, they went down to the depths;Their soul ^amelted away in the ¹calamity.²⁷They staggered and ^aswayed like a drunken man,And all their wisdom was swallowed up.²⁸Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble,And He brought them out of their distresses.²⁹He ^acaused the storm to stand still,So that its waves were hushed.³⁰Then they were glad because they were quiet,So He led them to their desired haven.³¹^aLet them give thanks to Yahweh for His lovingkindness,And for His ^bwondrous deeds to the sons of men!³²Let them ^aexalt Him also ^bin the assembly of the people,And ^cpraise Him at the seat of the elders.³³He ¹^,^amakes rivers into a ²wildernessAnd springs of water into a thirsty ground;³⁴A ^afruitful land into a ^bsalt waste,Because of the evil of those who inhabited it.³⁵He ^amakes a wilderness into a pool of waterAnd a dry land into springs of water;³⁶And there He causes the hungry to inhabit,So that they may establish ^aan inhabited city,³⁷And sow fields and ^aplant vineyards,And produce a fruitful harvest.³⁸Also He blesses them and they ^amultiply greatly,And He ^bdoes not let their cattle decrease.³⁹But when they ^adecrease and are ^bbowed downThrough oppression, evil, and sorrow,⁴⁰He ^apours contempt upon noblesAnd ^bmakes them wander ^cin a pathless void.⁴¹But He ^asets the needy ¹securely on high away from affliction,And ^bmakes his families like a flock.⁴²The ^aupright see it and are glad;But all ^bunrighteousness shuts its mouth.⁴³Who is ^awise? Let him keep these things,And carefully consider the ^blovingkindnesses of Yahweh.