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14     From the overflow of sacrifices,
        I will satisfy My priests;
    All My people will feast on My goodness.

The people now cling to this promise as they struggle with exile. Jeremiah returns the focus to the heartbreak of a people being deported to a foreign land.

This is what the Eternal declares!

15 Eternal One: A voice rises from Ramah—
        mourning and bitter weeping are heard day and night.
    The voice is Rachel’s; she’s weeping for her children.
        She will not be comforted,
        for her children are no more.[a]

The setting is Ramah, a village a few miles north of Jerusalem, where exiles are assembled before the long march to Babylon. Later the prophet himself will spend time in this refugee camp awaiting his own exile (40:1). For now, he paints the picture of Rachel, one of the matriarchs of this nation, weeping for her children as they head off into captivity.

16 But listen to what the Eternal says:

Eternal One: Do not weep, Rachel—wipe the tears from your eyes—
        for I promise I will reward you for what you have done.
    Your children will return from this exile;
        they will come back home from this enemy land.

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Footnotes

  1. 31:15 Matthew 2:18

14 I will satisfy(A) the priests(B) with abundance,
    and my people will be filled with my bounty,(C)
declares the Lord.

15 This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,(D)
    mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,(E)
    because they are no more.”(F)

16 This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping
    and your eyes from tears,(G)
for your work will be rewarded,(H)
declares the Lord.
    “They will return(I) from the land of the enemy.

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