Isaiah 54:8-10

54:8 In a burst ¹  of anger I rejected you ²  momentarily,

but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”

says your protector, ³  the Lord.

54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, ⁴ 

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood ⁵  would never again cover the earth.

In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

54:10 Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship ⁶  be displaced,”

says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

Jeremiah 31:31-36

31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, ⁷  “when I will make a new covenant ⁸  with the people of Israel and Judah. ⁹  31:32 It will not be like the old ¹⁰  covenant that I made with their ancestors ¹¹  when I delivered them ¹²  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ¹³  says the Lord. ¹⁴  31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ¹⁵  after I plant them back in the land,” ¹⁶  says the Lord. ¹⁷  “I will ¹⁸  put my law within them ¹⁹  and write it on their hearts and minds. ²⁰  I will be their God and they will be my people. ²¹ 

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ²²  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ²³  says the Lord. “For ²⁴  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

The Lord Guarantees Israel’s Continuance

31:35 The Lord has made a promise to Israel.

He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day

and the moon and stars to give light by night.

He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll.

He promises it as the one who is known as the Lord who rules over all. ²⁵ 

31:36 The Lord affirms, ²⁶  “The descendants of Israel will not

cease forever to be a nation in my sight.

That could only happen if the fixed ordering of the heavenly lights

were to cease to operate before me.” ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 32:38-41

32:38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁸  32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ²⁹  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. 32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ³⁰  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ³¹  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ³²  they will never again turn ³³  away from me. 32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them ³⁴  firmly in the land.’

Ezekiel 37:25-28

37:25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it – they and their children and their grandchildren forever. David my servant will be prince over them forever. 37:26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a perpetual covenant with them. ³⁵  I will establish them, ³⁶  increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever. 37:27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 37:28 Then, when my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel.’” ³⁷ 

Ezekiel 39:29

39:29 I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, ³⁸  declares the sovereign Lord.”

Joel 3:20

3:20 But Judah will reside securely forever,

and Jerusalem will be secure ³⁹  from one generation to the next.

[54:8]  ¹ tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”

[54:8]  ² tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”

[54:8]  ³ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[54:9]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and all the ancient versions except LXX.

[54:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[54:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”

[31:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:31]  ⁸ tn Or “a renewed covenant” (also in vv. 22-23).

[31:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

[31:32]  ¹⁰ tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

[31:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[31:32]  ¹² tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

[31:32]  ¹³ tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

[31:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

[31:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

[31:33]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

[31:33]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

[31:33]  ²⁰ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

[31:33]  ²¹ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[31:34]  ²² tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

[31:34]  ²³ sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).

[31:34]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

[31:35]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for this title. In the Hebrew text the verse reads: “Thus says the Lord who provides the sun for light by day, the fixed ordering of the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar, whose name is Yahweh of armies, ‘…’” The hymnic introduction to the quote which does not begin until v. 36 has been broken down to avoid a long awkward sentence in English. The word “said” has been translated “made a promise” to reflect the nature of the content in vv. 36-37. The first two lines of the Hebrew poetry are a case of complex or supplementary ellipsis where the complete idea of “providing/establishing the fixed laws” is divided between the two lines (cf. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 110-13). The necessity for recombining the ellipsis is obvious from reference to the fixed ordering in the next verse. (Some commentators prefer to delete the word as an erroneous glossing of the word in the following line (see, e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 277, n. y).

[31:36]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:36]  ²⁷ tn Heb “‘If these fixed orderings were to fail to be present before me,’ oracle of the Lord, ‘then the seed of Israel could cease from being a nation before me forever (or more literally, “all the days”).’” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to modern style. The connection has been maintained by reversing the order of condition and consequence and still retaining the condition in the second clause. For the meaning of “cease to operate” for the verb מוּשׁ (mush) compare the usage in Isa 54:10; Ps 55:11 (55:12 HT); Prov 17:13 where what is usually applied to persons or things is applied to abstract things like this (see HALOT 506 s.v. II מוּשׁ Qal for general usage).

[32:38]  ²⁸ sn The covenant formula setting forth the basic relationship is reinstituted along with a new covenant (v. 40). See also 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and the study note on 30:22.

[32:39]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[32:40]  ³⁰ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ³¹ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ³² tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ³³ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[32:41]  ³⁴ tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).

[37:26]  ³⁵ sn See Isa 24:5; 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40; 50:5; Ezek 16:60, for other references to perpetual covenants.

[37:26]  ³⁶ tn Heb “give them.”

[37:28]  ³⁷ sn The sanctuary of Israel becomes the main focus of Ezek 40-48.

[39:29]  ³⁸ sn See Ezek 11:19; 37:14.

[3:20]  ³⁹ tn The phrase “will be secure” does not appear in the Hebrew, but are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.