Jeremiah 31:15–20

¹⁵Thus saith the Lord;

^qA voice was heard in ^rRamah,

Lamentation, and ^sbitter weeping;

Rahel weeping for her children

Refused to be comforted for her children, because ^tthey were not.

¹⁶Thus saith the Lord;

Refrain thy voice from weeping,

And thine eyes from tears:

For thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord;

And ^uthey shall come again from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷And ^vthere is hope in thine end, saith the Lord,

That ^wthy children shall come again to their own border.

¹⁸I have surely heard ^zzEphraim bemoaning himself thus;

Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised,

As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:

^xTurn thou me, and I shall be turned;

For thou art the Lord my God.

¹⁹Surely ^yafter that I was turned, I repented;

And after that I was instructed, I ^zsmote upon my thigh:

I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,

Because I did bear the reproach ^aof my youth.

²⁰Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a ^bpleasant child?

For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still:

Therefore ^cmy bowels ^†are troubled for him;

I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.