Genesis to Revelation Bible
Reading Plan
August 27
Jeremiah 30-32
Chapter 30
Deliverance from Captivity Promised
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words
which I have spoken to you in a book.
3 ‘For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when
I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord
says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers
and they shall possess it.’ ”
4 Now these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning
Judah:
5 “For thus says the Lord,
‘
I have heard a sound of terror,
Of dread, and there is no peace.
6 ‘Ask now, and see
If a male can give birth.
Why do I see every man
With his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth?
And why have all faces turned pale?
7 ‘Alas! for that day is great,
There is none like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s distress,
But he will be saved from it.
8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘that
I will break his yoke from off their neck and will tear off their bonds;
and strangers will no longer make them their slaves.
9 ‘But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom
I will raise up for them.
10 ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord,
‘
And do not be dismayed, O Israel;
For behold, I will save you from afar
And your offspring from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease,
And no one will make him afraid.
11 ‘For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you;
For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you,
Only I will not destroy you completely.
But I will chasten you justly
And will by no means leave you unpunished.’
12 “For thus says the Lord,
‘
Your wound is incurable
And your injury is serious.
13 ‘There is no one to plead your cause;
No healing for your sore,
No recovery for you.
14 ‘All your lovers have forgotten you,
They do not seek you;
For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
With the punishment of a cruel one,
Because your iniquity is great
And your sins are numerous.
15 ‘Why do you cry out over your injury?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your iniquity is great
And your sins are numerous,
I have done these things to you.
16 ‘Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity;
And those who plunder you will be for plunder,
And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.
17 ‘For I will restore you to health
And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the Lord,
‘
Because they have called you an outcast, saying:
“
It is Zion; no one cares for her.” ’
Restoration of Jacob
18 “Thus says the Lord,
‘
Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
And have compassion on his dwelling places;
And the city will be rebuilt on its ruin,
And the palace will stand on its rightful place.
19 ‘From them will proceed thanksgiving
And the voice of those who celebrate;
And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished;
I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant.
20 ‘Their children also will be as formerly,
And their congregation shall be established before Me;
And I will punish all their oppressors.
21 ‘Their leader shall be one of them,
And their ruler shall come forth from their midst;
And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me;
For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the Lord.
22 ‘You shall be My people,
And I will be your God.’ ”
23 Behold, the tempest of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
A sweeping tempest;
It will burst on the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has performed and until He has accomplished
The intent of His heart;
In the latter days you will understand this.
Chapter 31
Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy
1 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of
all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
2 Thus says the Lord,
“
The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when it went to find its rest.”
3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying,
“
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
4 “Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
Again you will take up your tambourines,
And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.
5 “Again you will plant vineyards
On the hills of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And will enjoy them.
6 “For there will be a day when watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim call out,
‘
Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’ ”
7 For thus says the Lord,
“
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise and say,
‘
O Lord, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel.’
8 “Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,
And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;
A great company, they will return here.
9 “With weeping they will come,
And by supplication I will lead them;
I will make them walk by streams of waters,
On a straight path in which they will not stumble;
For I am a father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My firstborn.”
10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare in the coastlands afar off,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12 “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—
Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,
And over the young of the flock and the herd;
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they will never languish again.
13 “Then 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 give them joy for their sorrow.
14 “I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.
15 Thus says the Lord,
“
A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”
16 Thus says the Lord,
“
Restrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears;
For your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord,
“
And they will return from the land of the enemy.
17 “There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord,
“
And your children will return to their own territory.
18 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving,
‘
You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
19 ‘For after I turned back, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh;
I was ashamed and also humiliated
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 “Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a delightful child?
Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him;
Therefore My heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,” declares the Lord.
21 “Set up for yourself roadmarks,
Place for yourself guideposts;
Direct your mind to the highway,
The way by which you went.
Return, O virgin of Israel,
Return to these your cities.
22 “How long will you go here and there,
O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—
A woman will encompass a man.”
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will
speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their
fortunes,
‘
The Lord bless you, O abode of righteousness,
O holy hill!’
24 “Judah and all its cities will dwell together in it, the farmer and
they who go about with flocks.
25 “For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.”
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
A New Covenant
27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will
sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with
the seed of beast.
28 “As I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow,
to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to
plant,” declares the Lord.
29 “In those days they will not say again,
‘
The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 “But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the
sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.
31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which
they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel
after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within
them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people.
34 “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his
brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from
the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for
I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
35 Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
36 “If this fixed order departs
From before Me,” declares the Lord,
“
Then the offspring of Israel also will cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”
37 Thus says the Lord,
“
If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.
38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the
city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner
Gate.
39 “The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill
Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.
40 “And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all
the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward
the east, shall be holy to the Lord; it will not be plucked up or overthrown
anymore forever.”
Chapter 32
Jeremiah Imprisoned
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of
Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem,
and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was
in the
house of the king of Judah,
3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you
prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to
give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it;
4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans,
but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will
speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye;
5 and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit
him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you
will not succeed” ’?”
6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy
for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption
to buy it.” ’
8 “Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard
according to the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please,
that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right
of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I
knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s
son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver.
10 “I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and
weighed out the silver on the scales.
11 “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing
the terms and conditions and the open copy;
12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son
of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the
witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting
in the court of the guard.
13 “And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying,
14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds,
this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware
jar, that they may last a long time.”
15 ‘For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses
and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” ’
Jeremiah Prays and God Explains
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah,
then I prayed to the Lord, saying,
17 ‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth
by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult
for You,
18 who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers
into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The
Lord of hosts is His name;
19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the
ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according
to the fruit of his deeds;
20 who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day
both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself,
as at this day.
21 ‘You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs
and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with
great terror;
22 and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give
them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23 ‘They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your
voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded
them to do; therefore You have made all this calamity come upon them.
24 ‘Behold, the siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the
city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because
of the sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has come
to pass; and behold, You see it.
25 ‘You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy for yourself the field
with money and call in witnesses”—although the city is given into
the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”
26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult
for Me?”
28 Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to give this city
into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
and he will take it.
29 “The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set
this city on fire and burn it, with the houses where people have offered incense
to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke
Me to anger.
30 “Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only
evil in My sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only provoking
Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the Lord.
31 “Indeed this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My
wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be
removed from before My face,
32 because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which
they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their leaders,
their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 “They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught
them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction.
34 “But they put their detestable things in the house which is called
by My name, to defile it.
35 “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom
to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech,
which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should
do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city
of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by
sword, by famine and by pestilence.’
37 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven
them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them
back to this place and make them dwell in safety.
38 “They shall be My people, and I will be their God;
39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always,
for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
40 “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn
away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts
so that they will not turn away from Me.
41 “I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant
them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
42 “For thus says the Lord, ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster
on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising
them.
43 ‘Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It
is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”
44 ‘Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in
witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities
of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and
in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares
the Lord.”
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)