Jeremiah:31

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* At the (note :)When this noble governor will come , meaning Christ , not only Judah and Israel , but the rest of the world will be called .(:note ) same time , saith the LORD , I will be the God of all the families of Israel , and they shall be my people . * Thus saith the LORD , The people [who were ] (note :)Who were delivered from the cruelty of Pharaoh .(:note ) left by the sword found grace in the wilderness ; That is , God . [even ] Israel , when I went to cause him to rest . * The LORD appeared (note :)The people thus reason as though he were not so beneficial to them now as he had been of old .(:note ) of old to me , [saying ], Thus the Lord answers that his love is not changeable . I have loved thee with an everlasting love : therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee . * Again I will build thee , and thou shalt be built , O virgin of Israel : thou shalt again (note :)You will still have opportunity to rejoice which is meant by tabrets and dancing as their custom was after notable victories , ( Exo_15:20 ; Jdg_11:34 ).(:note ) be adorned with thy tabrets , and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry . * Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of (note :)Because the Israelites who were the ten tribes never returned to Samaria , therefore this must be spiritually understood under the kingdom of Christ , which was the restoration of the true Israel .(:note ) Samaria : the planters shall plant , and That is , will eat the fruit of it , as in ( Lev_19:23-25 ; Deu_20:6 ). shall eat [them ] as common things . * For there shall be a day , [that ] the (note :)The ministers of the word .(:note ) watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry , Arise ye , and let us go up to They will exhort all to the embracing of the gospel , as in ( Isa_2:3 ). Zion to the LORD our God . * * Beholde , I will bring them from the North countrey , and gather them from the coastes of the world , with the blinde &amp ; the lame among them , with the woman with childe , and her that is deliuered also : a great companie shall returne hither . * They shall come with (note :)That is , lamenting their sins which had not given ear to the prophets and therefore it follows that God received them to mercy , ( Jer_50:4 ). Some take it that they should weep for joy .(:note ) weeping , and with supplications will I lead them : I will cause them to walk by the rivers of Where they found no impediments , but abundance of all things . waters in a straight way , in which they shall not stumble : for I am a father to Israel , and Ephraim [is ] That is , my dearly beloved as the first child is to the father . my firstborn . * Heare the worde of the Lord , O ye Gentiles , and declare in the yles afarre off , and say , Hee that scattered Israel , wil gather him and wil keepe him , as a shepheard doeth his flocke . * For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob , and ransomed him from the hand (note :)That is , from the Babylonians and other enemies .(:note ) of [him that was ] stronger than he . * Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion , and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD , for (note :)By these temporal benefits he means the spiritual graces which are in the Church , and of which there would ever be plenty , ( Isa_58:11-12 ).(:note ) grain , and for wine , and for oil , and for the young of the flock and of the herd : and their soul shall be as a watered garden ; and they shall not sorrow any more at all . * Then shall the virgin rejoice in the (note :)In the company of the faithful , who ever praise God for his benefits .(:note ) dance , both young men and old together : for I will turn their mourning into joy , and will comfort them , and make them rejoice from their sorrow . * And I will abundantly satisfy the soul of the priests with (note :)Meaning , the spirit of wisdom , knowledge and zeal .(:note ) fatness , and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness , saith the LORD . * Thus saith the LORD ; A voice was heard in Ramah , lamentation , [and ] bitter weeping ; (note :)To declare the greatness of God 's mercy in delivering the Jews , he shows them that they were like the Benjamites of the Israelites , that is , utterly destroyed and carried away , so much so that if Rachel the mother of Benjamin could have risen again to seek her children she would have found none remaining .(:note ) Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children , because they [were ] not . * Thus saith the Lorde , Refraine thy voyce from weeping , and thine eyes from teares : for thy worke shalbe rewarded , saith the Lord , and they shall come againe from the land of the enemie : * And there is hope in thine ende , saith the Lord , that thy children shall come againe to their owne borders . * I have surely heard (note :)That is , the people who were led captive .(:note ) Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus ]; Thou hast chastised me , and I was chastised , as a Which was wanton and could not be subject to the yoke . bull unaccustomed [to the yoke ]: He shows how the faithful used to pray , that is , desire God to tame them as they cannot turn of themselves . turn thou me , and I shall be turned ; for thou [art ] the LORD my God . * Surely after I was turned , I repented ; and after I was instructed , I smote upon [my ] (note :)In sign of repentance and detestation of my sin .(:note ) thigh : I was ashamed , and even confounded , because I bore the reproach of my youth . * [Is ] Ephraim (note :)As though he would say no for by his iniquity he did what lay in him to cast me off .(:note ) my dear son ? [is he ] a pleasant child ? for since I spoke against him , I do earnestly That is , in piety of him for my promise ’s sake . remember him still : therefore my heart is troubled for him ; I will surely have mercy upon him , saith the LORD . * Set thee up (note :)Mark by what way you went into captivity and you will turn again by the same .(:note ) waymarks , make thee high heaps : set thy heart toward the highway , [even ] the way [which ] thou wentest : turn again , O virgin of Israel , turn again to these thy cities . * How long wilt thou wander about , O thou backsliding daughter ? for the LORD hath created (note :)Because their deliverance from Babylon was a figure of their deliverance from sin , he shows how this would be procured that is , by Jesus Christ , whom a woman would conceive and bear in her womb . Which is a strange thing in earth , because he would be born of a virgin without man or he means that Jerusalem which was like a barren woman in her captivity would be fruitful as she that is joined in marriage and whom God blesses with children .(:note ) a new thing in the earth , A woman shall encompass a man . * Thus saith the Lord of hostes , the God of Israel , Yet shall they say this thing in the land of Iudah , and in the cities thereof , when I shall bring againe their captiuitie , The Lorde blesse thee , O habitation of iustice and holy mountaine . * And Iudah shall dwell in it , and all the cities thereof together , the husbandmen and they that goe foorth with the flocke . * For I haue saciate the wearie soule , and I haue replenished euery sorowfull soule . * Upon this I awoke , and beheld ; and my sleep (note :)Having understood this vision of the Messiah to come , in whom the two houses of Israel and Judah would be joined , I rejoiced .(:note ) was sweet to me . * Behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah (note :)I will multiply and enrich them with people and cattle .(:note ) with the seed of man , and with the seed of beast . * And like as I haue watched vpon them , to plucke vp and to roote out , and to throw downe , and to destroy , and to plague them , so wil I watch ouer them , to build &amp ; to plant them , saith ye Lord . * In those days they shall say no more , The fathers have (note :)The wicked used this proverb when they murmured against God 's judgments pronounced by the prophets , saying that their fathers had committed the fault and that the children were punished , ( Eze_18:2-3 ).(:note ) eaten a sour grape , and the children 's teeth are set on edge . * But euery one shall die for his owne iniquitie : euery man that eateth the sowre grape , his teeth shalbe set on edge . * Behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will make a (note :)Though the covenant of redemption made to the fathers and this which was given later seemed varied , yet they are all one and grounded on Jesus Christ , save that this is called new , because of the manifestation of Christ and the abundant graces of the Holy Spirit given to his Church under the gospel .(:note ) new covenant with the house of Israel , and with the house of Judah : * Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that ] I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; which my covenant they (note :)And so were the opportunity of their own divorcement through their infidelity , ( Isa_50:1 ).(:note ) broke , although I was an husband to them , saith the LORD : * But this [shall be ] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel ; After (note :)In the time of Christ , my law will instead of tables of stone be written in their hearts by my Holy Spirit , ( Heb_8:10 ).(:note ) those days , saith the LORD , I will put my law in their inward parts , and write it in their hearts ; and will be their God , and they shall be my people . * And they shall (note :)Under the kingdom of Christ there will be no one blinded with ignorance , but I will give them faith , and acknowledge God for remission of their sins and daily increase the same : so that it will not seem to come so much by the preaching of my ministers as by the instruction of my Holy Spirit , ( Isa_54:13 ) but the full accomplishing of it is referred to the kingdom of Christ , when we will be joined with our head .(:note ) teach no more every man his neighbour , and every man his brother , saying , Know the LORD : for they shall all know me , from the least of them to the greatest of them , saith the LORD : for I will forgive their iniquity , and I will remember their sin no more . * Thus saith the LORD , who giveth (note :)If the sun , moon and stars cannot but glue light according to my ordinance , so long as this world lasts , so shall my church never fail , neither shall anything hinder it : and as sure as I will have a people , so certain is it , that I will leave them my word forever to govern them with .(:note ) the sun for a light by day , [and ] the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night , who divideth the sea when its waves roar ; The LORD of hosts [is ] his name : * If these ordinances depart out of my sight , saith the Lorde , then shall the seede of Israel cease from being a nation before me , for euer . * Thus saith the LORD ; If heaven above can be measured , (note :)The one and the other is impossible .(:note ) and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath , I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done , saith the LORD . * Behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that the (note :)As it was performed , ( Neh_3:1 ). By this description he shows that the city would be as ample and beautiful as it ever was : but he alludes to the spiritual Jerusalem whose beauty would be incomparable .(:note ) city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner . * And the line of the measure shal go foorth in his presence vpon the hil Gareb , and shall compasse about to Goath . * And the whole valley of the dead bodies , and of the ashes , &amp ; all the fields vnto the brooke of Kidron , and vnto the corner of the horsegate toward the East , shalbe holy vnto the Lorde , neither shal it be plucked vp nor destroyed any more for euer .

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