Bible in a Year · Day 247 of 365
Today’s reading: Jeremiah 29–31 (3 chapters)
Read the passage below, or open your own Bible and follow along. The text here is the World English Bible, a public-domain translation, printed in full so the day’s reading is all on one page.
About Jeremiah
Jeremiah prophesied through the last decades of Judah, from the reforms of Josiah to the burning of Jerusalem. He is often called the weeping prophet, and the book shows why: he is forbidden to marry, beaten, put in stocks, thrown into a cistern, and accused of treason for telling the truth. His temple sermon in chapter 7 and his letter to the exiles in chapter 29 are among the most quoted passages in Scripture. The book also carries the promise of a new covenant written on the heart, made in the middle of a story that is falling apart.
What to watch for. Watch the tension between Jeremiah's call and his cost, and read chapter 31 slowly. Notice that the new covenant is promised while the old one is being broken, not after everything is repaired.
Jeremiah 29
1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, 2(after that Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem), 3by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying, 4Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5“Build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit.
6Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and don’t be diminished. 7Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you shall have peace.” 8For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,” says Yahweh. 10For Yahweh says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 12You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,” says Yahweh, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.” 15Because you have said, “Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon;”
16Yahweh says concerning the king who sits on David’s throne, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven’t gone with you into captivity; 17Yahweh of Armies says: “Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can’t be eaten, they are so bad. 18I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them; 19because they have not listened to my words,” says Yahweh, “with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,” says Yahweh. 20Hear therefore Yahweh’s word, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: “Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall kill them before your eyes. 22A curse shall be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;’ 23because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn’t command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,” says Yahweh. 24Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, 25“Thus speaks Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26“Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in Yahweh’s house, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles. 27Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you, 28because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long: build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit?”’” 29Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,
31“Send to all them of the captivity, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;” 32therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his offspring. He shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my people,” says Yahweh, “because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”
Jeremiah 30
1The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book. 3For, behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’” 4These are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5For Yahweh says: “We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6Ask now, and see whether a man travails with child. Why do I see every man with his hands on his waist, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned pale? 7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. 8It shall come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds; and strangers shall no more make them their bondservants; 9but they will serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them. 10Therefore don’t you be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid.
11For I am with you, says Yahweh, to save you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.” 12For Yahweh says, “Your hurt is incurable, and your wound grievous. 13There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up. You have no healing medicines. 14All your lovers have forgotten you. They don’t seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased. 15Why do you cry for your hurt? Your pain is incurable: for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased, I have done these things to you.
16Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, everyone of them, shall go into captivity; and those who plunder you shall be plunder, and all who prey on you will I give for a prey. 17For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds,” says Yahweh; “because they have called you an outcast, saying, ‘It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.’” 18Yahweh says: “Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city shall be built on its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited in its own place. 19Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they will not be small. 20Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before me. I will punish all who oppress them.
21Their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from among them. I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to me; for who is he who has had boldness to approach to me?” says Yahweh. 22“You shall be my people, and I will be your God. 23Behold, Yahweh’s storm, his wrath, has gone out, a sweeping storm: it shall burst on the head of the wicked. 24The fierce anger of Yahweh will not return, until he has executed, and until he has performed the intentions of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it.”
Jeremiah 31
1“At that time,” says Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.” 2Yahweh says, “The people who survive the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.” 3Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness. 4I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who make merry. 5Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant, and will enjoy its fruit.
6For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’” 7For Yahweh says, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish, praise, and say, ‘Yahweh, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’ 8Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together. They will return as a great company. 9They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 10“Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations, and declare it in the islands afar off; and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’
11For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. 12They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to 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. 13Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,” says Yahweh. 15Yahweh says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
16Yahweh says: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded,” says Yahweh; “and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17There is hope for your latter end,” says Yahweh; “and your children shall come again to their own border. 18“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are Yahweh my God. 19Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’ 20Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.
21“Set up road signs, make guideposts; set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went: turn again, virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities. 22How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? for Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man.” 23Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: ‘Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.’ 24Judah and all its cities shall dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks. 25For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul I have replenished.”
26On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me. 27“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal. 28It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant,” says Yahweh. 29“In those days they shall say no more, “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ 30But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32not 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 broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh. 33“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: 34and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.” 35Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is his name, says:
36“If these ordinances depart from before me,” says Yahweh, “then the offspring of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.” 37Yahweh says: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” says Yahweh. 38“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city shall be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner. 39The measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah. 40The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy to Yahweh; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.”
Next · Day 248: Jeremiah 32–35 →
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), a public-domain translation. Day numbering follows the calendar year; you can start at Day 1 on any date.
