Jeremiah 31:8

Comfort Hope

⁶ 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 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!’

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 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 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.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

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!
KJV: Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
WEB: Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together. They will return as a great company.
ASV: Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall they return hither.
DARBY: Behold, I bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth; [and] among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great assemblage shall they return hither.
BLB: Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, and I will gather them from the ends of the earth—among them the blind and the lame, the one pregnant and the one giving birth together; a great assembly will return here.

ÅB: Se, jeg fører dem fra landet i nord og samler dem fra jordens ytterste ende; blant dem er det både blinde og halte, både fruktsommelige og fødende; som en stor skare skal de komme hit tilbake.
OTB: "Se, jeg vil bringe dem fra landet i nord og samle dem fra jordens ender. Blant dem vil være de blinde og de lamme, gravide kvinner og de som er i fødsel; en stor forsamling vil vende tilbake."
B1930: Se, jeg fører dem fra landet i nord og samler dem fra jordens ytterste ende; blandt dem er det både blinde og halte, både fruktsommelige og fødende; som en stor skare skal de komme hit tilbake.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Ezekiel 34:16
I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’
Read in context
Isaiah 42:16
I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
Read in context
Jeremiah 23:8
Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.”
Read in context
Micah 4:6
“On that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the outcast, even those whom I have afflicted.
Read in context
Ezekiel 34:13
I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land.
Read in context
Jeremiah 3:18
In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance.
Read in context
Isaiah 40:11
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
Read in context
Hebrews 12:12
Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.
Read in context