[Jer. 31:15], "A voice was heard in [the town of] Ramah [Note: This was a village near Jerusalem, where Rachel was buried], with crying and deep mourning. It was Rachel crying for her children [Note: Initially this was a reference to the Israelites who were taken to Babylonian captivity. See Jer. 29-31]. She refused to be comforted because they were dead."

And He said to them, "It is written [Isa. 56:7], 'My house [i.e., the Temple] will be called a house for prayer', but [Jer. 7:11 says], 'You have made it a hideout for thieves.'"

a woman with an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of very expensive perfume came to Him and poured it on His head as He reclined at the dinner table. [Note: See Matt. 23:6]

Then He taught them, saying, "Is it not written [Isa. 56:7], 'My house [i.e., the Temple] will be called a house of prayer for people of all nations'? But [Jer. 7:11 says], 'You have made it a hideout for thieves.'"

And while Jesus was in Bethany [Note: This was a small village fewer than two miles east of Jerusalem], sitting at the dinner table in the house of Simon, the man with an infectious skin disease [Note: This man had probably been healed by now], a woman with an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of very expensive perfume came to Him, broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head.

And when a sinful woman from the town learned that He was having dinner at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of liquid perfume,

saying to them, "It is written [Isa. 56:7], 'And my house [i.e., the Temple] will be a house for prayer, but [Jer. 7:11] 'You have made it a hideout for thieves.'"

So, the woman left her water jar and went back into town and told the people [there],

And when they [finally] got the boat hoisted up, they slung [rope] cables underneath [and around] the hull [of the ship to reinforce it]. Then, fearing the ship would run aground on the [shifting], shallow sandbar [called] Syrtis, they lowered their [navigation] gear [Note: This may have been sails, rigging, etc.] and so were driven [as a derelict by the wind].

On the third day, they handed [the rest of] the ship's gear to each other, and threw it overboard [Note: This was perhaps furniture, rigging, sails, baggage, etc.].

[A summary of Jer. 31:31-34 says], "And I [i.e., God] will make this Agreement with them [i.e., Jewish and Gentile believers] when I take away their sins."

So, as it is written [Jer. 9:23f], "The person who [wants to] boast, let him boast about the Lord."

You people show [i.e., by your conversions] that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us [i.e., the result of our ministry], not written with ink but with the Holy Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets [i.e., as in the case with Moses' ministry], but on tablets of the human heart. [See Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10].

[Jer. 9:24 says], "But the person who boasts should boast about the Lord."

For God found fault with the Israelites [or, possibly with the first Agreement], saying [Jer. 31:31ff], "Look, the Lord says, the time will come when I will make a New Agreement with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.

It had a golden altar for [burning] incense [in it], and [originally] the gold-plated Chest of the Agreement, containing a golden jar of manna, Aaron's staff that sprouted buds and the tablets of the Agreement.

[Jer. 31:33f], "The Lord says, this is the Agreement I will make with them [i.e., with my people] after those days. I will put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their minds." Then He said,