Jeremiah 31:3–20

³The Lord appeared to us in the past,^a saying:

“I have loved^p you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn^q you with unfailing kindness.

⁴I will build you up again,

and you, Virgin^r Israel, will be rebuilt.^s

Again you will take up your timbrels^t

and go out to dance^u with the joyful.^v

⁵Again you will plant^w vineyards

on the hills of Samaria;^x

the farmers will plant them

and enjoy their fruit.^y

⁶There will be a day when watchmen^z cry out

on the hills of Ephraim,

‘Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’ ”^a

⁷This is what the Lord says:

“Sing^b with joy for Jacob;

shout for the foremost^c of the nations.

Make your praises heard, and say,

‘Lord, save^d your people,

the remnant^e of Israel.’

⁸See, I will bring them from the land of the north^f

and gather^g them from the ends of the earth.

Among them will be the blind^h and the lame,ⁱ

expectant mothers and women in labor;

a great throng will return.

⁹They will come with weeping;^j

they will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead^k them beside streams of water^l

on a level^m path where they will not stumble,

because I am Israel’s father,ⁿ

and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;

proclaim it in distant coastlands:^o

‘He who scattered^p Israel will gather^q them

and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’^r

¹¹For the Lord will deliver Jacob

and redeem^s them from the hand of those stronger^t than they.

¹²They will come and shout for joy^u on the heights^v of Zion;

they will rejoice in the bounty^w of the Lord—

the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,^x

the young of the flocks^y and herds.

They will be like a well-watered garden,^z

and they will sorrow^a no more.

¹³Then young women will dance and be glad,

young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning^b into gladness;

I will give them comfort^c and joy^d instead of sorrow.

¹⁴I will satisfy^e the priests^f with abundance,

and my people will be filled with my bounty,^g”

declares the Lord.

¹⁵This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,^h

mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,ⁱ

because they are no more.”^j

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,^k

for your work will be rewarded,^l”

declares the Lord.

“They will return^m from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷So there is hopeⁿ for your descendants,”

declares the Lord.

“Your children^o will return to their own land.

¹⁸“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:

‘You disciplined^p me like an unruly calf,^q

and I have been disciplined.

Restore^r me, and I will return,

because you are the Lord my God.

¹⁹After I strayed,^s

I repented;

after I came to understand,

I beat^t my breast.

I was ashamed^u and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’^v

²⁰Is not Ephraim my dear son,

the child^w in whom I delight?

Though I often speak against him,

I still remember^x him.

Therefore my heart yearns for him;

I have great compassion^y for him,”

declares the Lord.