Midrash sa Jeremias 31:1: Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) & Bereshit Rabbah

R. Abin b. R. Adda said in the name of Rab: "Whoever marries a wife who is not fit for him the result will be that when the Holy One, praised be He! will cause to rest His Shechina, He will testify to the worthiness of all the tribes but not upon such a man, as it is said (Ps. 122, 4) Fur thither go up the tribes of the Lord, as a testimony for Israel; i.e., when is it a testimony for Israel? At the time when the tribes may be called the tribes of the Lord." R. Chana b. Chanina said: "When the Holy One, praised be He, will cause to rest His Shechina, He will do so only upon the aristocratic families in Israel, as it is said (Jer. 31, 25) At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God for all the families of Israel; i.e., it does not say to all Israel, but to all the families."

Rabbi Simon said: The Holy One blessed be He found three [precious] finds: Abraham, as it is written: “You found his heart faithful before You” (Nehemiah 9:8); David, as it is written: “I found David, My servant” (Psalms 89:21); Israel, as it is written: “Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel” (Hosea 9:10).⁶In each case, God rejoiced, as when one finds a treasure. The students raised an objection to Rabbi Simon: But is it not written [also]: “But Noah found favor”? He said to them: He [Noah] found [favor], the Holy One blessed be He did not find [him].⁷God did not rejoice over “finding” Noah as with the others. It is Noah who found something precious – favor before God. But is it not written: “[Israel] found favor in the wilderness”? (Jeremiah 31:2).⁸And here it cannot be said that God did not "find” Israel, as Israel is among the three “finds.” It is due to the merit of the generation of the Wilderness.⁹Do not render it as “in the wilderness,” but “in the merit of the [generation of the] wilderness.” The people of Jeremiah’s time were not worthy, and were not considered “finds” by God; it is they who found favor before Him in the merit of their righteous ancestors. (“You found his heart faithful before You.”)¹⁰These words are not relevant here, and should be deleted (Yefe Toar).