Jeremiah 30; Jeremiah 31; Philemon 1

1 The LORD spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said,

2 "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: Write in a book everything that I tell you.

3 The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it."

4 This is the message that the LORD spoke about Israel and Judah:

5 "This is what the LORD says: "We hear cries of fear, cries of panic, not cries of peace.

6 Ask now, and see: Can a man give birth to a child? Why, then, do I see every strong man holding his stomach in pain like a woman giving birth to a child? Why has every face turned pale?

7 How terrible that day will be! There will be no other day like it. It will be a time of calamity for the descendants of Jacob, but they will be rescued from it.

8 "On that day," declares the LORD of Armies, "I will break the yokes off your necks and tear off your ropes. Foreigners will no longer make you serve them.

9 You will serve the LORD your God and David your king. I will establish him for you.

10 "Don't be afraid, my servant Jacob," declares the LORD. Don't be terrified, Israel. I'm going to rescue you from a faraway place. I'm going to rescue your descendants from where they are captives. The descendants of Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will frighten them.

11 I am with you, and I will rescue you," declares the LORD. "I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will correct you with justice. I won't let you go entirely unpunished.

12 "This is what the LORD says: Your wound is incurable. Your injury is beyond healing.

13 No one argues that you should be healed. No medicine will heal you.

14 All your lovers have forgotten you, and they don't want you anymore. I've punished you as an enemy would. I've corrected you as a cruel person would. You are very wicked, and you have many sins.

15 Why do you cry about your wound, your injury that can't be cured? I've done this to you. You are very wicked, and you have many sins.

16 That is why everyone who devours you will be devoured, and all your enemies will be taken away as captives. Those who looted you will be looted. Those who stole from you in war will have things stolen from them.

17 I'll restore your health and heal your wounds," declares the LORD. "People call you an outcast: Zion, no one cares for you.

18 "This is what the LORD says: I'm going to bring the captives back to Jacob's tents and show compassion on their homes. Cities will be built on the ruins, and fortified palaces will be built in their rightful place.

19 The people who live there will sing songs of praise, and the sound of laughter will be heard from there. I'll make them numerous, and their number won't decrease. I'll bring them honor, and they won't be considered unimportant.

20 Their children will be like they were long ago. Their community will be established in my presence, and I will punish everyone who oppresses them.

21 Their leader will be someone from their own people. Their ruler will come from among them. I'll bring him near, and he will come close to me. Who would dare to come near me?" asks the LORD.

22 You will be my people, and I will be your God.

23 The storm of the LORD will come with his anger. Like a driving wind, it will swirl down on the heads of the wicked.

24 The LORD's burning anger will not turn back until he has done everything he intends to do. In the last days you will understand this clearly.

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 survived the wars have found favor in the desert. Israel went to find its rest.

3 The LORD appeared to me in a faraway place and said, "I love you with an everlasting love. So I will continue to show you my kindness.

4 Once again I will build you up, and you will be rebuilt, my dear people Israel. Once again you will take your tambourines, and you will go dancing with happy people.

5 Once again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. Those who plant them will enjoy the fruit.

6 There will be a day when watchmen on the mountains of Ephraim will call out this message: 'Arise! Let's go to Zion, to the LORD our God.'"

7 This is what the LORD says: Sing a happy song about Jacob. Sing joyfully for the leader of the nations. Shout, sing praise, and say, "O LORD, rescue your people, the remaining few from Israel."

8 "I will bring them from the land of the north. I will gather them from the farthest parts of the earth. Blind people and lame people will return together with pregnant women and those in labor. A large crowd will return here.

9 They will cry as they return. They will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams on a level path where they will not stumble. I will be a Father to Israel, and Ephraim will be my firstborn.

10 "You nations, listen to the word of the LORD. Tell it to the distant islands. Say, 'The one who scattered the people of Israel will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd watches over his flock.'

11 The LORD will free the descendants of Jacob and reclaim them from those who are stronger than they are.

12 They will come and shout for joy on top of Mount Zion. They will stream to it to enjoy the LORD's blessings: fresh grain, new wine, and olive oil, lambs and calves. Their lives will be like well-watered gardens, and they will never suffer again.

13 Then young women will rejoice and dance along with young men and old men. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them. I will give them joy in place of their sorrow.

14 I will satisfy the priests with rich food. My people will be filled with my blessings," declares the LORD.

15 This is what the LORD says: A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of crying in bitter grief. Rachel is crying for her children. She refuses to be comforted, because they are dead.

16 This is what the LORD says: Stop your crying, and wipe away your tears. You will be rewarded for your work, declares the LORD. You will return from the land of the enemy.

17 Your future is filled with hope, declares the LORD. Your children will return to their own territory.

18 "I have certainly heard Ephraim mourn and say, 'You disciplined me, and I was disciplined. I was like a young, untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be turned, because you are the LORD my God.

19 After I was turned around, I changed the way I thought and acted. After I was taught a lesson, I hung my head in shame. I was so ashamed and humiliated, because of all the stupid things I have done ever since I was young.'

20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? Even though I have often spoken against him, I still think fondly of him. That is why my heart longs for him, and I will certainly have compassion on him," declares the LORD.

21 Set up landmarks! Put up road signs! Remember the highway, the road on which you traveled. Come back, my dear people Israel, come back to your cities.

22 How long will you wander around, you unfaithful people? The LORD will create something new on earth: A woman will protect a man.

23 This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: When I have brought them back from captivity, they will once again use this saying in Judah and in its cities: "The LORD will bless you, home of righteousness, holy mountain.

24 Judah and all its cities will live there together. Farmers and shepherds will also live there.

25 I will give those who are weary all they need. I will refresh everyone who is filled with sorrow."

26 At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant.

27 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will plant the nations of Israel and Judah with people and animals.

28 Once I watched over them to uproot them, to tear them down, and to wreck, ruin, and hurt them. Now I will watch over them to build them up and to plant them," declares the LORD.

29 "When those days come, people will no longer say, 'Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children's teeth are set on edge.'

30 But each person will die for his own sin. Whoever eats sour grapes will have his own teeth set on edge.

31 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new promise to Israel and Judah.

32 It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.

33 "But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days," declares the LORD: "I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

34 No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, 'Know the LORD.' All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me," declares the LORD, "because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them."

35 The LORD provides the sun to be a light during the day. He orders the moon and stars to be lights during the night. He stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. His name is the LORD of Armies. This is what the LORD says:

36 Only if these laws stop working, declares the LORD, will Israel's descendants stop being a nation in my presence.

37 This is what the LORD says: Only if the heavens could be measured or the foundations of the earth could be searched, would I ever reject all of Israel's descendants because of everything that they have done, declares the LORD.

38 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to Corner Gate.

39 A measuring line will stretch from there straight to the Hill of Gareb, and then it will turn to Goah.

40 The whole valley, filled with its dead bodies and ashes, and the whole area to the Kidron Valley, as far as the corner of Horse Gate in the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never be uprooted or torn down again."

1 From Paul, who is a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy. To our dear coworker Philemon,

2 our sister Apphia, our fellow soldier Archippus, and the church that meets in your house.

3 Good will and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are yours!

4 [Philemon,] I always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers because

5 I hear about your faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people.

6 As you share the faith you have in common with others, I pray that you may come to have a complete knowledge of every blessing we have in Christ.

7 Your love [for God's people] gives me a lot of joy and encouragement. You, brother, have comforted God's people.

8 Christ makes me bold enough to order you to do the right thing.

9 However, I would prefer to make an appeal on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an old man and now a prisoner for Christ Jesus,

10 appeal to you for my child Onesimus [Useful]. I became his spiritual father here in prison.

11 Once he was useless to you, but now he is very useful to both of us.

12 I am sending him back to you. This is like sending you a part of myself.

13 I wanted to keep him here with me. Then he could have served me in your place while I am in prison for spreading the Good News.

14 Yet, I didn't want to do anything without your consent. I want you to do this favor for me out of your own free will without feeling forced to do it.

15 Maybe Onesimus was gone for a while so that you could have him back forever--

16 no longer as a slave but better than a slave--as a dear brother. He is especially dear to me, but even more so to you, both as a person and as a Christian.

17 If you think of me as your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.

18 If he wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me.

19 I, Paul, promise to pay it back. I'm writing this with my own hand. I won't even mention that you owe me your life.

20 So, because we're brothers in the Lord, do something for me. Give me some comfort because of Christ.

21 I am confident as I write to you that you will do this. And I know that you will do even more than I ask.

22 One more thing--have a guest room ready for me. I hope that, because of your prayers, God will give me back to you.

23 Epaphras, who is a prisoner because of Christ Jesus like I am,

24 and my coworkers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke send you greetings.

25 The good will of our Lord Jesus Christ be yours.