1At that time, says the LORD, I will become God of all the families of Israel, and they shall become my people. 2These are the words of the LORD: A people that survived the sword
3long ago the LORD appeared to them:
found favour in the wilderness;
Israel journeyed to find rest;
I have dearly loved you from of old,
and still I maintain my unfailing care for you.
4I will build you up again, O virgin Israel,
and you shall be rebuilt.
Again you shall adorn yourself with jingles,
and go forth with the merry throng of dancers.
5Again you shall plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria,
vineyards which those who planted them defiled;
6for a day will come when the watchmen on Ephraim's hills cry out,
Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.
7For these are the words of the LORD: Break into shouts of joy for Jacob's sake,
8See how I bring them from the land of the north;
lead the nations, crying loud and clear,
sing out your praises and say,
The LORD has saved his people,
and preserved a remnant of Israel.
I will gather them from the ends of the earth,
their blind and lame among them,
women with child and women in labour,
a great company.
9They come home, weeping as they come,
but I will comfort them and be their escort.
I will lead them to flowing streams;
they shall not stumble, their path will be so smooth.
For I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my eldest son.
10Listen to the word of the LORD, you nations,
announce it, make it known to coasts and islands far away:
He who scattered Israel shall gather them again
and watch over them as a shepherd watches his flock.
11For the LORD has ransomed Jacob
and redeemed him from a foe too strong for him.
12They shall come with shouts of joy to Zion's height,
shining with happiness at the bounty of the LORD,
the corn, the new wine, and the oil,
the young of flock and herd.
They shall become like a watered garden
and they shall never want again.
13Then shall the girl show her joy in the dance,
young men and old shall rejoice;
I will turn their mourning into gladness,
I will relent and give them joy to outdo their sorrow.
14I will satisfy the priests with the fat of the land
and fill my people with my bounty.
This is the very word of the LORD.
15
These are the words of the LORD: Hark, lamentation is heard in Ramah, and bitter weeping,
Rachel weeping for her sons.
She refuses to be comforted: they are no more.
16These are the words of the LORD: Cease your loud weeping,
17You shall leave descendants after you ;
shed no more tears;
for there shall be a reward for your toil,
they shall return from the land of the enemy.
your sons shall return to their own land.
18I listened; Ephraim was rocking in his grief:
'Thou hast trained me to the yoke like an unbroken calf,
and now I am trained;
restore me, let me return,
for thou, LORD, art my God.
19Though I broke loose I have repented:
now that I am tamed I beat my breast;
in shame and remorse
I reproach myself for the sins of my youth.'
20Is Ephraim still my dear son,
a child in whom I delight?
As often as I turn my back on him
I still remember him;
and so my heart yearns for him,
I am filled with tenderness towards him.
This is the very word of the LORD.
21Build cairns to mark your way,
set up sign-posts;
make sure of the road,
the path which you will tread.
Come back, virgin Israel,
come back to your cities.
22How long will you twist and turn, my wayward child?
For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth:
a woman turned into a man.
23These are the words of the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Once more shall these words be heard in the land of Judah and in her cities, when I restore their fortunes: The LORD bless you,
24Ploughmen and shepherds who wander with their flocks
the LORD, your true goal , your holy mountain.
shall live together there .
25For I have given deep draughts to the thirsty,
and satisfied those who were faint with hunger.
26Thereupon I woke and looked about me, and my dream had been pleasant.
27The time is coming, says the LORD, when I will sow Israel and Judah with the seed of man and the seed of cattle. 28As I watched over them with intent to pull down and to uproot, to demolish and destroy and harm, so now will I watch over them to build and to plant. This is the very word of the LORD.
29In those days it shall no longer be said, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes
30for a man shall die for his own wrongdoing; the man who eats sour grapes shall have his own teeth set on edge.
and the children's teeth are set on edge';
31The time is coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with Israel and Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although they broke my covenant, I was patient with them, says the LORD. 33But this is the covenant which I will make with Israel after those days, says the LORD; I will set my law within them and write it on their hearts; I will become their God and they shall become my people. 34No longer need they teach one another to know the LORD; all of them, high and low alike, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their wrongdoing and remember their sin no more.
35These are the words of the LORD, who gave the sun for a light by day and the moon and stars for a light by night, who cleft the sea and its waves roared; the LORD of Hosts is his name:
37These are the words of the LORD: If any man could measure the heaven above or fathom the depths of the earth beneath, then I could spurn the whole race of Israel because of all they have done. This is the very word of the LORD.
38The time is coming, says the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt in the LORD's honour from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line shall then be laid straight out over the hill of Gareb and round Goath . 40All the valley and every field as far as the gorge of the Kidron to the corner by the Horse Gate eastwards shall be holy to the LORD. It shall never again be pulled down or demolished.
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