3 For behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that aI will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. b‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ ”

4 Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah.

5 “For thus says the Lord:

‘We have heard a voice of trembling,

Of 1fear, and not of peace.

6 Ask now, and see,

Whether a 2man is ever in 3labor with child?

So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins

cLike a woman in labor,

And all faces turned pale?

7 dAlas! For that day is great,

eSo that none is like it;

And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble,

But he shall be saved out of it.

8 ‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’

Says the Lord of hosts,

‘That I will break his yoke from your neck,

And will burst your bonds;

Foreigners shall no more enslave them.

9 But they shall serve the Lord their God,

And fDavid their king,

Whom I will graise up for them.

10 ‘Therefore hdo not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the Lord,

‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel;

For behold, I will save you from afar,

And your seed ifrom the land of their captivity.

Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet,

And no one shall make him afraid.

11 For I am with jyou,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you;

kThough I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you,

lYet I will not make a complete end of you.

But I will correct you min justice,

And will not let you go altogether unpunished.’