³For the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors, and they shall take possession of it.^*

⁴These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

⁵Thus says the Lord:

We have heard a cry of panic,

of terror, and no peace.^*

⁶Ask now and see:

Can a man bear a child?

Why then do I see every man

with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor?

Why has every face turned pale?^*

⁷Alas! that day is so great

there is none like it;

it is a time of distress for Jacob,

yet he shall be rescued from it.^*

⁸On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and strangers shall no more make a servant of him.^* ⁹But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.^*

¹⁰But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord,

and do not be dismayed, O Israel,

for I am going to save you from far away

and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

and no one shall make him afraid.^*

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

I will make an end of all the nations

among which I scattered you,

but of you I will not make an end.

I will chastise you in just measure,

and I will by no means leave you unpunished.^*

¹²For thus says the Lord:

Your hurt is incurable;

your wound is grievous.^*

¹³There is no one to uphold your cause,

no medicine for your wound,

no healing for you.^*

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you;

they care nothing for you,

for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,

the punishment of a merciless foe,

because your guilt is great,

because your sins are so numerous.^*

¹⁵Why do you cry out over your hurt?

Your pain is incurable.

Because your guilt is great,

because your sins are so numerous,

I have done these things to you.

¹⁶Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,

and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;

those who plunder you shall be plundered,

and all who prey on you I will make a prey.^*

¹⁷For I will restore health to you,

and your wounds I will heal,

says the Lord,

because they have called you an outcast:

“It is Zion; no one cares for her!”^*

¹⁸Thus says the Lord:

I am going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob

and have compassion on his dwellings;

the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound

and the citadel set on its rightful site.^*

¹⁹Out of them shall come thanksgiving

and the sound of merrymakers.

I will make them many, and they shall not be few;

I will make them honored, and they shall not be disdained.^*

²⁰Their children shall be as of old;

their congregation shall be established before me,

and I will punish all who oppress them.

²¹Their prince shall be one of their own;

their ruler shall come from their midst;

I will bring him near, and he shall approach me,

for who would otherwise dare to approach me?

says the Lord.^*

²²And you shall be my people,

and I will be your God.^*

²³Look, the storm of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling^k tempest;

it will burst upon the head of the wicked.^*

²⁴The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has executed and accomplished

the intents of his mind.

In the latter days you will understand this.^*

The Joyful Return of the Exiles

³¹At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.^*

²Thus says the Lord:

The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,^*

³the Lord appeared to him^l from far away.^m

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.^*

⁴Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

Again you shall adorn yourself with your tambourines

and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.^*

⁵Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.^*

⁶For there shall be a day when sentinels will call

in the hill country of Ephraim:

“Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.”^*

⁷For thus says the Lord:

Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

“Save, O Lord, your people,

the remnant of Israel.”^*

⁸See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north

and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame,

those with child and those in labor together;

a great company, they shall return here.^*

⁹With weeping they shall come,

and with consolationsⁿ I will lead them back;

I will let them walk by brooks of water,

in a straight path where they shall not stumble,

for I have become a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is my firstborn.^*

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him

and will keep him as a shepherd does a flock.”^*

¹¹For the Lord has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.^*

¹²They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,

over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

their life shall become like a watered garden,

and they shall never languish again.^*

¹³Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.^o

I will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.^*

¹⁴I will give the priests their fill of fatness,

and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,

says the Lord.^*

¹⁵Thus says the Lord:

A voice is heard in Ramah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

because they are no more.^*

¹⁶Thus says the Lord:

Keep your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,

for there is a reward for your work,

says the Lord:

they shall come back from the land of the enemy;^*

¹⁷there is hope for your future,

says the Lord:

your children shall come back to their own country.^*

¹⁸Indeed, I heard Ephraim pleading:

“You disciplined me, and I took the discipline;

I was like an untrained calf.

Bring me back; let me come back,

for you are the Lord my God.^*

¹⁹For after I had turned away I repented,

and after I was discovered, I struck my thigh;

I was ashamed, and I was dismayed

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”^*

²⁰Is Ephraim my dear son?

Is he the child in whom I delight?

As often as I speak against him,

I still remember him.

Therefore I am deeply moved for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

says the Lord.^*

²¹Set up road markers for yourself;

make yourself signposts;

consider well the highway,

the road by which you went.

Return, O virgin Israel,

return to these your cities.^*

²²How long will you waver,

O faithless daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:

a woman encompasses^p a man.

²³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its towns when I restore their fortunes:

“The Lord bless you, O abode of righteousness,

O holy hill!”^*

²⁴And Judah and all its towns shall live there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks.^*

²⁵I will satisfy the weary,

and all who are faint I will replenish.^*

²⁶Thereupon I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

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