Deuteronomy 30:3

30:3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he ¹  has scattered you.

Deuteronomy 30:2

30:2 Then if you and your descendants ²  turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being ³  just as ⁴  I am commanding you today,

Deuteronomy 6:1

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ⁵  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 6:1

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ⁷  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ⁸ 

Psalms 14:7

14:7 I wish the deliverance ⁹  of Israel would come from Zion!

When the Lord restores the well-being of his people, ¹⁰ 

may Jacob rejoice, ¹¹ 

may Israel be happy! ¹² 

Psalms 85:1

Psalm 85 ¹³ 

For the music director; written by the Korahites, a psalm.

85:1 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;

you restored the well-being of Jacob. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 11:11-16

11:11 At that time ¹⁵  the sovereign master ¹⁶  will again lift his hand ¹⁷  to reclaim ¹⁸  the remnant of his people ¹⁹  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ²⁰  Cush, ²¹  Elam, Shinar, ²²  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ²³ 

11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people ²⁴ 

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

11:13 Ephraim’s jealousy will end, ²⁵ 

and Judah’s hostility ²⁶  will be eliminated.

Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah,

and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim.

11:14 They will swoop down ²⁷  on the Philistine hills to the west; ²⁸ 

together they will loot the people of the east.

They will take over Edom and Moab, ²⁹ 

and the Ammonites will be their subjects.

11:15 The Lord will divide ³⁰  the gulf ³¹  of the Egyptian Sea; ³² 

he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ³³  and send a strong wind, ³⁴ 

he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ³⁵ 

and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

11:16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria

for the remnant of his people, ³⁶ 

just as there was for Israel,

when ³⁷  they went up from the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah 16:15

16:15 But in that time they will affirm them with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ At that time I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.” ³⁸ 

Jeremiah 23:3-8

23:3 Then I myself will regather those of my people ³⁹  who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland. ⁴⁰  They will greatly increase in number. 23:4 I will install rulers ⁴¹  over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing. ⁴²  I, the Lord, promise it! ⁴³ 

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ⁴⁴  that a new time will certainly come ⁴⁵ 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ⁴⁶  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ⁴⁷ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ⁴⁸ 

23:6 Under his rule ⁴⁹  Judah will enjoy safety ⁵⁰ 

and Israel will live in security. ⁵¹ 

This is the name he will go by:

‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’ ⁵² 

23:7 “So I, the Lord, say: ⁵³  ‘A new time will certainly come. ⁵⁴  People now affirm their oaths with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.” 23:8 But at that time they will affirm them with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the descendants of the former nation of Israel ⁵⁵  from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished ⁵⁶  them.” ⁵⁷  At that time they will live in their own land.’”

Jeremiah 29:14

29:14 I will make myself available to you,’ ⁵⁸  says the Lord. ⁵⁹  ‘Then I will reverse your plight ⁶⁰  and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the Lord. ⁶¹  ‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’

Jeremiah 30:3

30:3 For I, the Lord, affirm ⁶²  that the time will come when I will reverse the plight ⁶³  of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors ⁶⁴  and they will take possession of it once again.’” ⁶⁵ 

Jeremiah 30:18

The Lord Will Restore Israel and Judah

30:18 The Lord says,

“I will restore the ruined houses of the descendants of Jacob.

I will show compassion on their ruined homes. ⁶⁶ 

Every city will be rebuilt on its former ruins. ⁶⁷ 

Every fortified dwelling will occupy its traditional site. ⁶⁸ 

Ezekiel 16:53

16:53 “‘I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them),

Ezekiel 37:21-22

37:21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 37:22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ⁶⁹ 

Ezekiel 38:14-18

38:14 “Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will take notice ⁷⁰  38:15 and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a vast army. 38:16 You will advance ⁷¹  against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself ⁷²  through you, O Gog.

38:17 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants ⁷³  the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days ⁷⁴  that I would bring you against them? 38:18 On that day, when Gog invades ⁷⁵  the land of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, my rage will mount up in my anger.

Ezekiel 39:25

39:25 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Now I will restore ⁷⁶  the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name.

Ezekiel 39:28-29

39:28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them in exile ⁷⁷  any longer. 39:29 I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, ⁷⁸  declares the sovereign Lord.”

Amos 9:14

9:14 I will bring back my people, Israel; ⁷⁹ 

they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble ⁸⁰  and settle down. ⁸¹ 

They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; ⁸² 

they will grow orchards ⁸³  and eat the fruit they produce. ⁸⁴ 

[30:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[30:2]  ² tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”

[30:2]  ³ tn Or “heart and soul” (also in vv. 6, 10).

[30:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to all.”

[6:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

[6:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

[6:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

[6:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

[14:7]  ⁹ sn The deliverance of Israel. This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.

[14:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).

[14:7]  ¹¹ tn The verb form is jussive.

[14:7]  ¹² tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.

[85:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 85. God’s people recall how he forgave their sins in the past, pray that he might now restore them to his favor, and anticipate renewed blessings.

[85:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you turned with a turning [toward] Jacob.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv). See Pss 14:7; 53:6.

[11:11]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:11]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[11:11]  ¹⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads, “the sovereign master will again, a second time, his hand.” The auxiliary verb יוֹסִיף (yosif), which literally means “add,” needs a main verb to complete it. Consequently many emend שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) to an infinitive. Some propose the form שַׁנֹּת (shannot, a Piel infinitive construct from שָׁנָה, shanah) and relate it semantically to an Arabic cognate meaning “to be high.” If the Hebrew text is retained a verb must be supplied. “Second time” would allude back to the events of the Exodus (see vv. 15-16).

[11:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”

[11:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”

[11:11]  ²⁰ sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).

[11:11]  ²¹ tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:11]  ²² tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[11:11]  ²³ tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”

[11:12]  ²⁴ tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.

[11:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “turn aside”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “depart.”

[11:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “hostile ones of Judah.” Elsewhere when the substantival participle of צָרָר (tsarar) takes a pronominal suffix or appears in a construct relationship, the following genitive is objective. (For a list of texts see BDB 865 s.v. III צָרַר) In this case the phrase “hostile ones of Judah” means “those who are hostile toward Judah,” i.e., Judah’s enemies. However, the parallel couplet that follows suggests that Judah’s hostility toward Ephraim is in view. In this case “hostile ones of Judah” means “hostile ones from Judah.” The translation above assumes the latter, giving the immediate context priority over general usage.

[11:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “fly.” Ephraim/Judah are compared to a bird of prey.

[11:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “on the shoulder of Philistia toward the sea.” This refers to the slopes of the hill country west of Judah. See HALOT 506 s.v. כָּתֵף.

[11:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Edom and Moab [will be the place of] the outstretching of their hand,” i.e., included in their area of jurisdiction (see HALOT 648 s.v. ח(וֹ)מִשְׁלֹ).

[11:15]  ³⁰ tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”

[11:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[11:15]  ³² sn That is, the Red Sea.

[11:15]  ³³ tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.

[11:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.

[11:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.

[11:16]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and there will be a highway for the remnant of his people who remain, from Assyria.”

[11:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in the day” (so KJV).

[16:15]  ³⁸ tn These two verses which constitute one long sentence with compound, complex subordinations has been broken up for sake of English style. It reads, “Therefore, behold the days are coming, says the Lord [Heb ‘oracle of the Lord’] and it will not be said any longer, ‘By the life of the Lord who…Egypt’ but ‘by the life of the Lord who…’ and I will bring them back….”

[23:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “my sheep.”

[23:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “their fold.”

[23:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[23:4]  ⁴² tn There are various nuances of the word פָּקַד (paqad) represented in vv. 2, 4. See Ps 8:4 (8:5 HT) and Zech 10:3 for “care for/take care of” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.1.a). See Exod 20:5; Amos 3:2; Jer 9:24; 11:22 for “punish” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.3). See 1 Kgs 20:39 and 2 Kgs 10:19 for “be missing” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Niph.1).

[23:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ⁴⁸ sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).

[23:6]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “In his days [= during the time he rules].”

[23:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Parallelism and context (cf. v. 4) suggest this nuance for the word often translated “be saved.” For this nuance elsewhere see Ps 119:117; Prov 28:18 for the verb (יָשַׁע [yasha’] in the Niphal); and Ps 12:6; Job 5:4, 11 for the related noun (יֶשַׁע, yesha’).

[23:6]  ⁵¹ sn It should be noted that this brief oracle of deliverance implies the reunification of Israel and Judah under the future Davidic ruler. Jeremiah has already spoken about this reunification earlier in 3:18 and will have more to say about it in 30:3; 31:27, 31. This same ideal was espoused in the prophecies of Hosea (1:10-11 [2:1-2 HT]), Isaiah (11:1-4, 10-12), and Ezekiel (37:15-28) all of which have messianic and eschatological significance.

[23:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “his name will be called ‘The Lord our righteousness’.”

[23:7]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:8]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “descendants of the house of Israel.”

[23:8]  ⁵⁶ tc It is probably preferable to read the third masculine singular plus suffix (הִדִּיחָם, hiddikham) here with the Greek version and the parallel passage in 16:15 rather than the first singular plus suffix in the MT (הִדַּחְתִּים, hiddakhtim). If this is not a case of mere graphic confusion, the MT could have arisen under the influence of the first person in v. 3. Though sudden shifts in person have been common in the book of Jeremiah, that is unlikely in a context reporting an oath.

[23:8]  ⁵⁷ tn This passage is the same as 16:14-15 with a few minor variations in Hebrew wording. The notes on that passage should be consulted for the rendering here. This passage has the Niphal of the verb “to say” rather than the impersonal use of the Qal. It adds the idea of “bringing out” to the idea of “bringing up out” and (Heb “who brought up and who brought out,” probably a case of hendiadys) before “the people [here “seed” rather than “children”] of Israel [here “house of Israel”] from the land of the north.” These are minor variations and do not affect the sense in any way. So the passage is rendered in much the same way.

[29:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “I will let myself be found by you.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא Niph.1.f and compare the usage in Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:2. The Greek version already noted that nuance when it translated the phrase “I will manifest myself to you.”

[29:14]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:14]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “restore your fortune.” Alternately, “I will bring you back from exile.” This idiom occurs twenty-six times in the OT and in several cases it is clearly not referring to return from exile but restoration of fortunes (e.g., Job 42:10; Hos 6:11–7:1; Jer 33:11). It is often followed as here by “regather” or “bring back” (e.g., Jer 30:3; Ezek 29:14) so it is often misunderstood as “bringing back the exiles.” The versions (LXX, Vulg., Tg., Pesh.) often translate the idiom as “to go away into captivity,” deriving the noun from שְׁבִי (shÿvi, “captivity”). However, the use of this expression in Old Aramaic documents of Sefire parallels the biblical idiom: “the gods restored the fortunes of the house of my father again” (J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 100-101, 119-20). The idiom means “to turn someone's fortune, bring about change” or “to reestablish as it was” (HALOT 1386 s.v. 3.c). In Ezek 16:53 it is paralleled by the expression “to restore the situation which prevailed earlier.” This amounts to restitutio in integrum, which is applicable to the circumstances surrounding the return of the exiles.

[29:14]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:3]  ⁶² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:3]  ⁶³ tn Heb “restore the fortune.” For the translation and meaning of this idiom see the note at 29:14.

[30:3]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[30:3]  ⁶⁵ sn As the nations of Israel and Judah were united in their sin and suffered the same fate – that of exile and dispersion – (cf. Jer 3:8; 5:11; 11:10, 17) so they will ultimately be regathered from the nations and rejoined under one king, a descendant of David, and regain possession of their ancestral lands. The prophets of both the eighth and seventh century looked forward to this ideal (see, e.g., Hos 1:11 (2:2 HT); Isa 11:11-13; Jer 23:5-6; 30:3; 33:7; Ezek 37:15-22). This has already been anticipated in Jer 3:18.

[30:18]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and will have compassion on his habitations.” For the meaning of the idiom “restore the fortunes of” see the translator’s note on 29:14. The “tents of Jacob” refers to their homes or houses (see BDB 14 s.v. אֹהֶל 2 and compare usage in Judg 19:9; Mal 2:12). The word “ruined” has been supplied in the translation to show more clearly the idea of restoration of their houses on their former sites in conformity to the concepts in the latter half of the verse.

[30:18]  ⁶⁷ sn Heb “on its tel.” A tel is a site where successive layers of occupation are built upon one another after the destruction or decay of the former city. The original site was not abandoned because it had been chosen for strategic purposes, such as proximity to water or ease of defense. Many modern archaeological sites have the designation “Tel” as a component of their name because of this practice.

[30:18]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “according to its custom [or plan].” Cf. BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 6.d and compare usage in 1 Sam 27:11.

[37:22]  ⁶⁹ sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).

[38:14]  ⁷⁰ tn The Hebrew text is framed as a rhetorical question: “will you not take notice?”

[38:16]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “come up.”

[38:16]  ⁷² tn Or “reveal my holiness.”

[38:17]  ⁷³ tn Heb “by the hand of my servants.”

[38:17]  ⁷⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “years” here, but this is probably a scribal gloss on the preceding phrase. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:201.

[38:18]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “goes up against.”

[39:25]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “cause to return.”

[39:28]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “there,” referring to the foreign nations to which they were exiled. The translation makes the referent clear.

[39:29]  ⁷⁸ sn See Ezek 11:19; 37:14.

[9:14]  ⁷⁹ tn This line can also be translated “I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel” and is a common idiom (e.g., Deut 30:3; Jer 30:3; Hos 6:11; Zeph 3:20). This rendering is followed by several modern English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, NJPS).

[9:14]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “the ruined [or “desolate”] cities.”

[9:14]  ⁸¹ tn Or “and live [in them].”

[9:14]  ⁸² tn Heb “drink their wine.”

[9:14]  ⁸³ tn Or “gardens.”

[9:14]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “eat their fruit.”