Jeremiah 31:3–20

³The Lord has appeared ¹of old to me, saying:

“Yes, ^dI have loved you with ^ean everlasting love;

Therefore with lovingkindness I have ^fdrawn you.

⁴Again ^gI will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,

O virgin of Israel!

You shall again be adorned with your ^htambourines,

And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

⁵ⁱYou shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;

The planters shall plant and ²eat them as ordinary food.

⁶For there shall be a day

When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim,

^j‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

To the Lord our God.’ ”

⁷For thus says the Lord:

^k“Sing with gladness for Jacob,

And shout among the chief of the nations;

Proclaim, give praise, and say,

‘O Lord, save Your people,

The remnant of Israel!’

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

And ^mgather them from the ends of the earth,

Among them the blind and the lame,

The woman with child

And the one who labors with child, together;

A great throng shall return there.

⁹ⁿThey shall come with weeping,

And with supplications I will lead them.

I will cause them to walk ^oby the rivers of waters,

In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;

For I am a Father to Israel,

And Ephraim is My ^pfirstborn.

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

And declare it in the ³isles afar off, and say,

‘He who scattered Israel ^qwill gather him,

And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’

¹¹For ^rthe Lord has redeemed Jacob,

And ransomed him ^sfrom the hand of one stronger than he.

¹²Therefore they shall come and sing in ^tthe height of Zion,

Streaming to ^uthe goodness of the Lord

For wheat and new wine and oil,

For the young of the flock and the herd;

Their souls shall be like a ^vwell-watered garden,

^wAnd they shall sorrow no more at all.

¹³“Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,

And the young men and the old, together;

For I will turn their mourning to joy,

Will comfort them,

And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

¹⁴I will ⁴satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,

And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

Mercy on Ephraim

¹⁵Thus says the Lord:

^x“A voice was heard in ^yRamah,

Lamentation and bitter ^zweeping,

Rachel weeping for her children,

Refusing to be comforted for her children,

Because ^athey are no more.”

¹⁶Thus says the Lord:

“Refrain your voice from ^bweeping,

And your eyes from tears;

For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,

And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷There is ^chope in your future, says the Lord,

That your children shall come back to their own border.

¹⁸“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:

‘You have ^dchastised me, and I was chastised,

Like an untrained bull;

^eRestore me, and I will return,

For You are the Lord my God.

¹⁹Surely, ^fafter my turning, I repented;

And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;

I was ^gashamed, yes, even humiliated,

Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

²⁰Is Ephraim My dear son?

Is he a pleasant child?

For though I spoke against him,

I earnestly remember him still;

^hTherefore My ⁵heart yearns for him;

ⁱI will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.