Mourning Turned to Joy
(Matthew 2:16–18)
“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.” Jer 30:22Isa 41:10Jer 30:24Zec 13:9Gen 17:7-8Jer 3:18Rom 11:26-29Ezk 11:20
This is what the LORD says: Num 10:33Psa 95:11Deu 1:33Mat 11:28Isa 63:7-14Deu 1:30Deu 12:9Deu 2:7
“The people who survived the sword
found favor in the wilderness
when Israel went to find rest.”
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: 1 Psa 103:17Isa 54:8-9Hos 11:4Eph 2:4-5Deu 33:31Jn 4:19Deu 7:7-92Ti 1:9
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, Jer 33:7Jer 31:13Amo 5:2Act 15:16Jer 30:18-19Rev 21:10-272Ki 19:21Lam 2:13
O Virgin Israel.
Again you will take up your tambourines
and go out in joyful dancing.
Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; Amo 9:14Deu 28:30Isa 65:21-22Lev 19:23-25Mic 4:41Sa 21:5Deu 20:6Ezk 36:8
the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.
For there will be a day when watchmen will call out Jer 50:4-5Isa 2:2-4Isa 52:7-8Jer 50:19Mic 4:1-3Zec 8:20-232Ch 13:42Ch 30:5-11
on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Arise, let us go up to Zion,
to the LORD our God!’”
For this is what the LORD says: Psa 28:9Isa 37:31Psa 14:7Isa 42:10-12Jer 23:3Amo 5:15Deu 28:13Deu 32:43
“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 Ezk 34:16Isa 42:16Jer 23:8Mic 4:6Ezk 34:13Heb 12:12Isa 40:11Jer 3:18
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!
They will come with weeping, Exo 4:22Jer 3:4Jer 31:20Jer 50:4Mat 5:4Isa 64:8Jer 3:191Ch 29:10
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.”
Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, Isa 40:11Ezk 34:12Deu 30:4Isa 66:19Jhn 11:52Act 20:28-29Ezk 11:16Jhn 10:27
and proclaim it in distant coastlands:
“The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them
as a shepherd keeps his flock.
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob Isa 44:23Isa 48:20Tit 2:14Isa 49:24Jer 15:21Psa 142:6Luk 11:21-22Mat 12:29
and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; Isa 35:10Isa 58:11Jol 3:18Isa 60:20Isa 65:19Jhn 16:22Ezk 17:23Jer 33:9-11
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.
Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, Psa 30:11Isa 61:3Isa 51:11Isa 51:3Est 9:22Isa 60:20Jer 31:4Psa 149:3
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.
I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly, Jer 31:251Pe 2:9Jer 33:9Mat 5:6Rev 5:10Rev 7:16-17Sng 5:12Ch 6:41
and will fill My people with My goodness,”
declares the LORD.
This is what the LORD says: Mat 2:16-18Psa 77:2Jer 40:1Gen 35:19Gen 37:35Isa 22:4Jer 10:20Gen 42:13
“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.” 2
This is what the LORD says: Rut 2:12Heb 6:10Jer 30:3Heb 11:6Jer 33:72Ch 15:7Ecc 9:7Jer 30:18
“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.
So there is hope for your future, Lam 3:21Hos 3:5Hos 2:15Jer 29:11-16Lam 3:18Lam 3:26Rom 11:23-26Ezk 37:25
declares the LORD,
and your children will return
to their own land.
I have surely heard Ephraim’s 3moaning: Jer 31:9Psa 80:3Isa 9:13Jer 17:14Jer 3:21-22Job 5:17Act 3:26Hos 5:15
‘You disciplined me severely,
like an untrained calf.
Restore me, that I may return,
for You are the LORD my God.
After I returned, I repented; Ezk 36:31Jer 3:25Ezk 21:12Luk 18:13Deu 30:22Co 7:10-11Eph 2:3-5Ezr 9:6
and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, Isa 55:7Mic 7:18-19Isa 63:15Jdg 10:16Lam 3:31-32Psa 103:13Hos 14:4Luk 15:24
a delightful child?
Though I often speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore My heart yearns for him; 4
I have great compassion for him,”
declares the LORD.
“Set up the roadmarks, Jer 50:5Isa 62:10Ezk 40:4Hag 1:5Isa 48:20Isa 52:11-12Isa 57:14Jer 3:14
establish the signposts.
Keep the highway in mind,
the road you have traveled.
Return, O Virgin Israel,
return to these cities of yours.
How long will you wander, Jer 49:4Jer 7:24Luk 1:34-35Mat 1:21Hos 11:7Hos 4:16Hos 8:5Jer 2:18
O faithless daughter?
For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—
a woman will shelter 5a man.”
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore them from captivity, 6 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.’ Zec 8:3Isa 1:26Jer 50:7Isa 1:21Isa 60:21Jer 23:5-8Jer 30:18Mic 4:1 And Judah and all its cities will dwell together in the land, the farmers and those who move with the flocks, Zec 8:4-8Ezk 36:10Jer 33:11-13Zec 2:4 for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.” Mat 5:6Mat 11:28Psa 107:9Jhn 4:14Jer 31:14Isa 50:4Luk 1:532Co 7:6
The New Covenant
(Hebrews 8:6–13)
At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me. Psa 127:2Zec 4:1-2
“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. Hos 2:23Ezk 36:11Ezk 36:9Zec 10:9Jer 30:19 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. Jer 24:6Jer 1:10Jer 18:7-9Jer 44:27Jer 45:4Act 15:16Dan 9:14Ecc 3:2-3
“In those days, it will no longer be said: Ezk 18:2-3Lam 5:7Jer 31:30
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’
Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge. Ezk 18:20Isa 3:11Deu 24:16Gal 6:5Ezk 18:4Ezk 3:18-19Ezk 33:18Ezk 33:13
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, Heb 10:16-17Ezk 37:26Jer 31:31-34Jer 32:402Co 3:6Luk 22:20Heb 12:241Co 11:25
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant Exo 24:6-8Deu 1:31Deu 5:3Exo 19:5Jhn 3:29Ezk 16:59-62Ezk 16:8Hos 3:1
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, 7”
declares the LORD.
“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel 2Co 3:3Heb 10:16Heb 8:10Ezk 11:19-20Jer 24:7Jer 32:40Ezk 36:25-27Psa 40:8
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.
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, Isa 43:25Heb 8:121Jn 2:27Isa 54:13Jer 33:8Heb 10:17-18Jer 50:20Jhn 17:3
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.” 8
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: Isa 51:15Jer 10:16Psa 136:7-9Gen 1:14-18Jer 50:34Deu 4:19Isa 54:5Mat 5:45
“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, Isa 54:9-10Jer 33:20-26Psa 89:36-37Psa 148:6Amo 9:8-9Deu 32:26Jer 46:28Psa 102:28
declares the LORD,
would Israel’s descendants ever cease
to be a nation before Me.”
This is what the LORD says: Jer 33:24-26Isa 40:12Jer 33:22Rom 11:1-5Rom 11:26-29Jer 46:28Job 11:7-9Pro 30:4
“Only if the heavens above could be measured
and the foundations of the earth below searched out
would I reject all of Israel’s descendants
because of all they have done,”
declares the LORD.
“The days are coming,” 9 declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. Zec 14:102Ki 14:13Jer 30:182Ch 26:9Jer 31:27Dan 9:25Ezk 48:30-35Isa 44:28 The measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah. Zec 2:1-2Ezk 40:8 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.” 2Sa 15:23Jol 3:172Ch 23:152Ki 11:16Jhn 18:12Ki 23:122Ki 23:6Neh 3:28