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31. Restoration of Israel

1 “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

    2 This is what the LORD says:

   “The people who survive the sword
   will find favor in the wilderness;
   I will come to give rest to Israel.”

    3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, Or LORD has appeared to us from afar saying:

   “I have loved you with an everlasting love;
   I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
4 I will build you up again,
   and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your timbrels
   and go out to dance with the joyful.
5 Again you will plant vineyards
   on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant them
   and enjoy their fruit.
6 There will be a day when watchmen cry out
   on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
   to the LORD our God.’”

    7 This is what the LORD says:

   “Sing with joy for Jacob;
   shout for the foremost of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
   ‘LORD, save your people,
   the remnant of Israel.’
8 See, I will bring them from the land of the north
   and gather them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
   expectant mothers and women in labor;
   a great throng will return.
9 They will come with weeping;
   they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
   on a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,
   and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

    10 “Hear the word of the LORD, you nations;
   proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
   and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
11 For the LORD will deliver Jacob
   and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
   they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD—
the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,
   the young of the flocks and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,
   and they will sorrow no more.
13 Then young women will dance and be glad,
   young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
   I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
14 I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
   and my people will be filled with my bounty,” declares the LORD.

    15 This is what the LORD says:

   “A voice is heard in Ramah,
   mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
   and refusing to be comforted,
   because they are no more.”

    16 This is what the LORD says:

   “Restrain your voice from weeping
   and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD.
   “They will return from the land of the enemy.
17 So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the LORD.
   “Your children will return to their own land.

    18 “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
   ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
   and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
   because you are the LORD my God.
19 After I strayed,
   I repented;
after I came to understand,
   I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated
   because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 Is not Ephraim my dear son,
   the child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
   I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
   I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

    21 “Set up road signs;
   put up guideposts.
Take note of the highway,
   the road that you take.
Return, Virgin Israel,
   return to your towns.
22 How long will you wander,
   unfaithful Daughter Israel?
The LORD will create a new thing on earth—
   the woman will return to Or will protect the man.”

    23 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, Or I restore their fortunes the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The LORD bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ 24 People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. 25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

    26 At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

    27 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD. 29 “In those days people will no longer say,

   ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
   and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

    30 Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

    31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
   “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
   and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
   I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
   to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
   though I was a husband to Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac / and I turned away from them, Or was their master” declares the LORD.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
   after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
   and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
   and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
   or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
   from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
   and will remember their sins no more.”

    35 This is what the LORD says,

   he who appoints the sun
   to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
   to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
   so that its waves roar—
   the LORD Almighty is his name:
36 “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”
   declares the LORD,
“will Israel ever cease
   being a nation before me.”

    37 This is what the LORD says:

   “Only if the heavens above can be measured
   and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
   because of all they have done,” declares the LORD.

    38 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

This verse is connected with the former; for what the Prophet had said generally of the whole people, he now distinctly declares respecting the priests, for they were, as it were, the heart of the people; and by this order God gave a lively representation of his favor. This is the reason why the Scripture, in setting forth God’s blessing to his chosen people, speaks especially of the priests, as it appears from many places. Then the Prophet intimates that God would be bountiful indiscriminately to all the Israelites, but that his peculiar favor would be conspicuous towards the priests, for the condition of the people would not be complete without the priesthood, for the priesthood was, as it were, the soul. They would have lived like the heathens, had not God prescribed how he was to be called upon and worshipped. And having mentioned the priests, he does not confine himself to them, but the favor of God is extended to the whole people. It is not then only of the priests that the Prophet speaks, but he declares that the people would be made blessed through God’s bounty, and yet that his peculiar kindness would be manifested towards the Levitical priests, according to what we read in the Psalms: a special blessing is promised to the priests, accompanied with felicity to the godly; and David, when felicitating himself on having so many of God’s blessings, by which he was distinguished, does indeed mention the provisions of his table and abundance of all other things, yet he immediately adds,

“I will dwell in the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 23:6)

By this conclusion, he intimates, that he esteemed as nothing what profane men desire, except he enjoyed as the first thing the worship of God; for this is the main part of our happiness. For wherefore do we live, except we learn, while we partake of blessings from God’s hand, that he is our Father, and that we are stimulated by his bounty to worship him, and except we surrender ourselves wholly to his word?

We now, then, perceive the Prophet’s object in saying, that the priests would be satiated with fatness

As the word דשן, deshin, fatness, denotes abundance of all things; so satiate intimates the great extent of God’s bounty. Some render it “inebriate,” but improperly; and it would be inappropriate to say, “I will inebriate with fatness.” But רוה rue, means to irrigate and also to satiate: hence the Prophet said, in what we considered yesterday, that the soul of the faithful would be like a watered garden; it is there רוה, rue. So also now God means, that he would be so bountiful towards his people, that nothing would be wanting to the full affluence of all good things. And he again says the same thing with regard to the whole people, My people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith Jehovah We hence see that nothing is promised to the priests, except in connection with the whole Church. It follows —

 
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