Jeremiah 31

New International Version

31 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God^(A) of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

²This is what the Lord says:

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

³The Lord appeared to us in the past,^[a] saying:

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

⁷This is what the Lord says:

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

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

¹⁵This is what the Lord says:

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

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping
    and your eyes from tears,^(AY)
for your work will be rewarded,^(AZ)”
declares the Lord.
    “They will return^(BA) from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷So there is hope^(BB) for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
    “Your children^(BC) will return to their own land.

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

²¹“Set up road signs;
    put up guideposts.^(BN)
Take note of the highway,^(BO)
    the road that you take.
Return,^(BP) Virgin^(BQ) Israel,
    return to your towns.
²²How long will you wander,^(BR)
    unfaithful^(BS) Daughter Israel?
The Lord will create a new thing^(BT) on earth—
    the woman will return to^[b]^(BU) the man.”

²³This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity,^[c]^(BV) the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord bless^(BW) you, you prosperous city,^(BX) you sacred mountain.’^(BY) ²⁴People will live^(BZ) together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks.^(CA) ²⁵I will refresh the weary^(CB) and satisfy the faint.”^(CC)

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

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

‘The parents^(CK) have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’^(CL)

³⁰Instead, everyone will die for their own sin;^(CM) 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^(CN)
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
³²It will not be like the covenant^(CO)
    I made with their ancestors^(CP)
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,^(CQ)
because they broke my covenant,
    though I was a husband^(CR) to^[d] them,^[e]”
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^(CS)
    and write it on their hearts.^(CT)
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.^(CU)
³⁴No longer will they teach^(CV) their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know^(CW) me,
    from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive^(CX) their wickedness
    and will remember their sins^(CY) no more.”

³⁵This is what the Lord says,

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

³⁷This is what the Lord says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured^(DG)
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject^(DH) 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^(DI) for me from the Tower of Hananel^(DJ) to the Corner Gate.^(DK) ³⁹The measuring line^(DL) will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰The whole valley^(DM) where dead bodies^(DN) and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley^(DO) on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate,^(DP) will be holy^(DQ) to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Or Lord has appeared to us from afar
Jeremiah 31:22 Or will protect
Jeremiah 31:23 Or I restore their fortunes
Jeremiah 31:32 Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac / and I turned away from
Jeremiah 31:32 Or was their master

Romans 7

New International Version

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters^(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? ²For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.^(B) ³So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.^(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law^(D) through the body of Christ,^(E) that you might belong to another,^(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵For when we were in the realm of the flesh,^[a]^(G) the sinful passions aroused by the law^(H) were at work in us,^(I) so that we bore fruit for death.^(J) ⁶But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law^(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.^(L)

The Law and Sin

⁷What shall we say, then?^(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!^(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.^(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”^[b]^(P) ⁸But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,^(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.^(R) ⁹Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life^(S) actually brought death. ¹¹For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,^(T) deceived me,^(U) and through the commandment put me to death. ¹²So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.^(V)

¹³Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good^(W) to bring about my death,^(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,^(Y) sold^(Z) as a slave to sin.^(AA) ¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.^(AB) ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.^(AC) ¹⁷As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.^(AD) ¹⁸For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[c]^(AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.^(AF) ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.^(AG)

²¹So I find this law at work:^(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being^(AI) I delight in God’s law;^(AJ) ²³but I see another law at work in me, waging war^(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin^(AL) at work within me. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?^(AM) ²⁵Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!^(AN)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,^(AO) but in my sinful nature^[d] a slave to the law of sin.^(AP)

Footnotes

Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh