Mercy on Ephraim

15 Thus 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.”

16 Thus 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.

17 There 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.

19 Surely, 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.’

20 Is 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.

21 “Set up signposts,

Make landmarks;

jSet your heart toward the highway,

The way in which you went.

6Turn back, O virgin of Israel,

Turn back to these your cities.

22 How long will you kgad about,

O you lbacksliding daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—

A woman shall encompass a man.”