Mourning Turned to Joy (Matthew 2:16–18)
1 Brenton At that time, saith the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to me a people. BSB BSB: “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”
2 Brenton Thus saith the Lord, I found him warm in the wilderness with them that were slain with the sword: go ye and destroy not Israel. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness when Israel went to find rest.”
3 Brenton The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying , I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore have I drawn thee in compassion. BSB BSB: The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
4 Brenton For I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt yet take thy timbrel, and go forth with the party of them that make merry. BSB BSB: Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.
5 Brenton For ye have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria: plant ye, and praise. BSB BSB: Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.
6 Brenton For it is a day when those that plead on the mountains of Ephraim shall call, saying , Arise ye, and go up to Sion to the Lord your God. BSB BSB: For there will be a day when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Arise, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!’”
7 Brenton For thus saith the Lord to Jacob; Rejoice ye, and exult over the head of the nations: make proclamation, and praise ye: say, The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel. BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Make your praises heard, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!’
8 Brenton Behold, I bring them from the north, and will gather them from the end of the earth to the feast of the passover: and the people shall beget a great multitude, and they shall return hither. BSB BSB: Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
9 Brenton They went forth with weeping, and I will bring them back with consolation, causing them to lodge by the channels of waters in a straight way, and they shall not err in it: for I am become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. BSB BSB: They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
10 Brenton Hear the words of the Lord, ye nations, and proclaim them to the islands afar off; say, He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock. BSB BSB: Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.
11 Brenton For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them that were stronger than he. BSB BSB: For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.
12 Brenton And they shall come, and shall rejoice in the mount of Sion, and shall come to the good things of the Lord, even to a land of corn, and wine, and fruits, and cattle, and sheep: and their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more. BSB BSB: They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.
13 Brenton Then shall the virgins rejoice in the assembly of youth, and the old men shall rejoice; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will make them merry. BSB BSB: Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.
14 Brenton I will expand and cheer with wine the soul of the priests the sons of Levi, and my people shall be satisfied with my good things: thus saith the Lord. BSB BSB: I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly, and will fill My people with My goodness,” declares the LORD.
15 Brenton A voice was heard in Rama, of lamentation, and of weeping, and wailing; Rachel would not cease weeping for her children, because they are not. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
16 Brenton Thus saith the Lord; Let thy voice cease from weeping, and thine eyes from thy tears: for there is a reward for thy works; and they shall return from the land of thine enemies. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD. Then your children will return from the land of the enemy.
17 Brenton There shall be an abiding home for thy children.BSB BSB: So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land.
18 Brenton I have heard the sound of Ephraim lamenting, and saying , Thou hast chastened me, and I was chastened; I as a calf was not willingly taught: turn thou me, and I shall turn; for thou art the Lord my God. BSB BSB: I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
19 Brenton For after my captivity I repented; and after I knew, I groaned for the day of shame, and shewed thee that I bore reproach from my youth. BSB BSB: After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 Brenton Ephraim is a beloved son, a pleasing child to me: for because my words are in him, I will surely remember him: therefore I made haste to help him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. BSB BSB: Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.
21 Brenton Prepare thyself, O Sion; execute vengeance; look to thy ways: return, O virgin of Israel, by the way by which thou wentest, return mourning to thy cities. BSB BSB: “Set up the road markers, put up the signposts. Keep the highway in mind, the road you have traveled. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to these cities of yours.
22 Brenton How long, O disgraced daughter, wilt thou turn away? for the Lord has created safety for a new plantation: men shall go about in safety. BSB BSB: How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”
23 Brenton For thus saith the Lord; They shall yet speak this word in the land of Juda, and in the cities thereof, when I shall turn his captivity; blessed be the Lord on his righteous holy mountain! BSB BSB: This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore them from captivity, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling place, O holy mountain.’
24 Brenton And there shall be dwellers in the cities of Juda, and in all his land, together with the husbandman, and the shepherd shall go forth with the flock. BSB BSB: And Judah and all its cities will dwell together in the land, the farmers and those who move with the flocks,
25 Brenton For I have saturated every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul. BSB BSB: for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”
The New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6–13)
26 Brenton Therefore I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet to me. BSB BSB: At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
27 Brenton Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Juda with the seed of man, and the seed of beast. BSB BSB: “The 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 of beast.
28 Brenton And it shall come to pass, that as I watched over them, to pull down, and to afflict, so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord. BSB BSB: Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.
29 Brenton In those days they shall certainly not say, The fathers ate a sour grape, and the children's teeth were set on edge. BSB BSB: “In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’
30 Brenton But every one shall die in his own sin; and the teeth of him that eats the sour grape shall be set on edge. BSB BSB: Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.
32 Brenton not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they abode not in my covenant, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord. BSB BSB: It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
33 Brenton For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. BSB BSB: “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
34 Brenton And they shall not at all teach every one his fellow citizen, and every one his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them: for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more. BSB BSB: No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
35 Brenton Though the sky should be raised to a greater height, saith the Lord, and though the ground of the earth should be sunk lower beneath, yet I will not cast off the family of Israel, saith the Lord, for all that they have done. Thus saith the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, the moon and the stars for a light by night, and makes a roaring in the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; the Lord Almighty is his name: BSB BSB: Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name:
36 Brenton if these ordinances cease from before me, saith the Lord, then shall the family of Israel cease to be a nation before me for ever. BSB BSB: “Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”
38 Brenton Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Anameel to the gate of the corner. BSB BSB: “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 Brenton And the measurement of it shall proceed in front of them as far as the hills of Gareb, and it shall be compassed with a circular wall of choice stones. BSB BSB: The measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.
40 Brenton And all the Asaremoth even to Nachal Kedron, as far as the corner of the horse-gate eastward, shall be holiness to the Lord; and it shall not fail any more, and shall not be destroyed for ever. BSB BSB: The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”
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