Jeremiah 31 is one of the most hopeful chapters in the book of Jeremiah, moving from grief and exile toward restoration, renewed relationship with God, and a promise of a new covenant written on the heart. These questions suit a small group, a Sunday school class, or someone studying the chapter on their own. Each set includes a leader’s note to help the discussion along.
Jeremiah 31 at a Glance
The chapter opens with God promising to be the God of all the families of Israel, then describes a gathering of the scattered people, their return to Zion, and a joy that replaces their mourning. Rachel’s weeping in Ramah is answered with a promise that her children will come home. The middle section records Ephraim’s confession and God’s tender response, followed by the announcement of a new covenant that will be written on people’s hearts rather than on stone.
The chapter closes with assurances of God’s faithfulness, compared to the fixed order of sun, moon and stars, and with a vision of Jerusalem rebuilt and made holy. Read as a whole, it moves from judgment to comfort, and the questions below follow that movement.
Observation Questions
Use these questions first, before the group offers any interpretation. Ask participants to find the answers in the text itself, and encourage them to point to specific verses so everyone is working from the same passage.
Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
(WEB)
Read this verse early in the session to set the tone. It states God’s everlasting love as the foundation for everything else in the chapter, so the group hears the promise before they discuss the struggles.
Jeremiah 31:15-17
15 The LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” 16 The LORD says: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work will be rewarded,” says the LORD. “They will come again from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your latter end,” says the LORD. “Your children will come again to their own territory.
(WEB)
Reading the weeping of Rachel alongside God’s answer lets the group feel both the sorrow and the hope. It works well as a pause point before moving into the discussion of exile and return.
Jeremiah 31:19
Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
(WEB)
This verse gives voice to honest repentance and shame. Reading it aloud helps participants see that confession is part of the path back to God, not a barrier to it.
Jeremiah 31:33
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the LORD: I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(WEB)
The core promise of the new covenant appears here. Reading it slowly gives the group time to reflect on what it means for God to write his law on the heart.
Jeremiah 31:34
They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says the LORD: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
(WEB)
The promise that all will know the LORD and that sin will be forgiven and remembered no more closes the central section of the chapter. Reading it aloud reinforces the depth of God’s mercy.
Memory Verse for Jeremiah 31
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we thank you that your love for us is everlasting and that you draw us with loving kindness. Where we have wandered like an untrained calf, we ask you to turn us back, and where we have grieved like Rachel, we ask you to hear our weeping. Write your law on our hearts, so that knowing you becomes the natural shape of our days. Let the watered garden of your promise grow in our lives and in this group. Thank you for forgiving our iniquity and remembering our sin no more. Amen.
