Jeremiah 31:3–20

³The Lord hath appeared ^†of old unto me, saying,

Yea, ^dI have loved thee with ^ean everlasting love:

Therefore ^||with lovingkindness ^fhave I drawn thee.

⁴Again ^gI will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel:

Thou shalt again ^hbe adorned with thy ^||tabrets,

And shalt go forth in ⁱthe dances of ^jthem that make merry.

^5kThou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of ^lSamaria:

The planters shall plant, and shall ^†eat them as common things.

⁶For there shall be a day,

That the watchmen upon ^mthe mount Ephraim shall cry,

ⁿArise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.

⁷For thus saith the Lord;

^oSing with gladness for Jacob,

And ^oshout among ^pthe chief of the nations:

Publish ye, praise ye, and say,

O Lord, ^qsave thy people, the remnant of Israel.

⁸Behold, I will bring them ^rfrom the north country,

And ^sgather them ^tfrom the coasts of the earth,

And with them ^uthe blind and the lame,

The woman with child and her that travaileth with child together:

A great company shall return thither.

⁹They shall come ^vwith weeping,

And with ^||wsupplications will I lead them:

I will cause them to walk ^xby the rivers of waters

^yIn a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble:

For ^zI am a father to Israel,

And ^zzEphraim is ^amy firstborn.

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations,

And declare it in the isles afar off, and say,

He that scattered Israel ^bwill gather him,

And keep him, ^cas a shepherd doth his flock.

¹¹For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,

And ^dransomed him ^efrom the hand of him that was stronger than he.

¹²Therefore they shall come and sing ^fin the height of Zion,

And ^gshall flow together ^hto the goodness of the Lord,

^ijFor wheat, and ^ijkfor wine, and ⁱfor oil,

And for the young of the flock and of the herd:

And their soul ^lshall be as a watered garden;

And ^mthey shall not sorrow any more at all.

¹³Then shall the virgin rejoice ⁿin the dance,

Both young men and old together:

For I will turn their mourning into joy,

And will comfort them, and ^omake them rejoice from their sorrow.

¹⁴And I will ^psatiate the soul of the priests with fatness,

And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord.

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.