Chapter Overview
Summary
The New Covenant. MT ch. 31 = LXX ch. 38. The New Covenant passage (vv. 31-34) is present in BOTH traditions — critically important for messianic theology.
Notable Variants
LXX is slightly shorter in the surrounding material but the New Covenant passage (vv. 31-34) is substantially identical. Minor differences in the list of restoration promises.
Structural Notes
MT ch. 31 = LXX ch. 38. The New Covenant (vv. 31-34) is the passage quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12.
At that time, declares the LORD, I will be God to all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
This is what the LORD says: The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness — Israel, when I went to give him rest.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
From far away the LORD appeared to me: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with faithful love."
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
I will build you again, and you will be rebuilt, young woman Israel! You will again take up your tambourines and go out dancing with those who celebrate.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
You will again plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; planters will plant and enjoy the fruit.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
For a day is coming when watchmen on the hills of Ephraim will call out: "Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!"
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
For this is what the LORD says: Sing out with joy for Jacob! Shout at the head of the nations! Make it heard, give praise, and say: "LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel!"
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
Look — I am bringing them from the land of the north and gathering them from the farthest parts of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and the one in labor, together — a great assembly will return here.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
They will come with weeping, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them. I will bring them to streams of water, on a level path where they will not stumble — for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and proclaim it on the distant coastlands. Say: "The one who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock."
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
They will come and sing on the heights of Zion, streaming toward the goodness of the LORD — toward grain, new wine, and fresh oil, toward young flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and they will never languish again.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
Then young women will rejoice in the dance, and young men and elders together. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness instead of grief.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
I will drench the priests with abundance, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
This is what the LORD says: A voice is heard in Ramah — wailing, bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are gone.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
This is what the LORD says: Hold back your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your labor, declares the LORD — they will return from the land of the enemy.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
There is hope for your future, declares the LORD — your children will return to their own territory.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
I have surely heard Ephraim grieving: "You disciplined me and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf. Bring me back and I will return, for you are the LORD my God."
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
For after I turned away, I was filled with regret; after I came to understand, I struck my thigh in shame. I was ashamed — deeply humiliated — because I bore the disgrace of my youth.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
Is Ephraim my precious son? Is he the child I delight in? For as often as I speak against him, I still remember him deeply. Therefore my inner being churns for him — I will surely have compassion on him, declares the LORD.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
Set up road markers for yourself; place signposts for yourself. Fix your attention on the highway, the road by which you went. Return, young woman Israel — return to these cities of yours.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created something new on the earth — a woman will embrace a man.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: They will again use this saying in the land of Judah and its cities when I restore their fortunes — "May the LORD bless you, O pasture of righteousness, O holy mountain!"
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
Judah and all its cities together will dwell in it — farmers and those who move about with their flocks.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
For I will satisfy the weary, and every one who languishes I will fill.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
At this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep had been pleasant to me.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
And just as I watched over them to uproot, to tear down, to overthrow, to destroy, and to bring harm — so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
In those days they will no longer say, "The parents ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge."
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
Instead, each person will die for his own iniquity. Whoever eats sour grapes — his own teeth will be set on edge.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
The New Covenant oracle begins — present in both MT and LXX. 'Behold, days are coming, says the LORD, when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.'
It will not be like the covenant I cut with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt — my covenant that they broke, though I was a faithful husband to them, declares the LORD.
The contrast with the Sinai covenant — present in both.
Rather, this is the covenant I will cut with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my instruction within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
'I will put My law in their inward parts and write it upon their heart' — present in both.
No longer will each one teach his neighbor or each one 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.
'They shall all know Me' — present in both. This is the climax of the New Covenant promise.
This is what the LORD says — he who gives the sun for light by day, who sets the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar — the LORD of Hosts is his name:
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
"If these fixed orders could be removed from before me," declares the LORD, "then the offspring of Israel would also cease to be a nation before me — for all time."
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
This is what the LORD says: "If the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, then I would also reject all the offspring of Israel for everything they have done," declares the LORD.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
The days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
The measuring line will extend further, straight to the hill of Gareb, and will turn toward Goah.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.
The entire valley of corpses and ashes, and all the terraced fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east — all of it will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or torn down, for all time.
LXX and MT are substantially identical here.