Jeremiah 31 explained: A New Promise Written on Hearts

The scattered come home (vv. 1-14)

The LORD promises that his lasting love will bring all the tribes home, even the blind, the lame and women in labor, to a land of dancing, vineyards and full tables where north and south worship together in Jerusalem. Verse 2 speaks of survivors finding favor in the wilderness, and translations differ on whether it looks back to the journey from Egypt or ahead to the exiles' return.

Rachel weeping (vv. 15-17)

Rachel, an ancestor of the northern tribes, is pictured weeping at Ramah for her lost children, near where captives were later gathered before being taken to Babylon. The LORD tells her to dry her tears because her children will come back.

A son who strayed (vv. 18-22)

Ephraim, a name for the northern tribes, admits he resisted God like an untrained calf and asks to be brought back, and the LORD answers like a parent whose heart still aches for him. The line about a woman and a man in verse 22 is puzzling, and scholars are unsure what new thing it describes.

Blessing and fair judgment (vv. 23-30)

Judah's towns will be lived in and blessed again, and the prophet then wakes, which suggests this message came in a dream. People had a saying that blamed their suffering on their parents' sins, but the LORD says each person will answer for their own wrongs.

The new covenant (vv. 31-34)

The bond made with their ancestors after Egypt had been broken, so the LORD promises a new one written on their hearts, where everyone will know him and their sins will be forgotten. Christians read this as the new covenant Jesus spoke of at his last meal, and the New Testament quotes this passage at length.

As sure as the sky (vv. 35-40)

The LORD says Israel will last as surely as the sun, moon and sea keep their order. Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and even the valley of corpses and ashes, probably the Hinnom Valley that Jeremiah elsewhere links with child sacrifice, will become holy.

Key verse: Jeremiah 31:33

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether these promises to Israel, including the new covenant, are fulfilled in the church through Jesus, still await a future fulfillment for the Jewish people as a nation, or both.

Something to think about

Is there something you do because a rule tells you to, and something you do because it has become part of who you are, and what made the difference between them?