1 In that time, said the LORD, I will be the God unto all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2 Thus hath the LORD said, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness as I went to cause Israel to find rest. 3 The LORD has appeared of old unto me, saying, I have loved thee with an eternal love: therefore, I have put up with thee with mercy. 4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tambourines and shalt go forth in the chorus of dancers. 5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant and shall eat them as common things. 6 For there shall be a day in which the watchmen upon the Mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up into Zion unto the LORD our God.
7 For thus hath the LORD said; Rejoice in Jacob with joy, and give shouts of joy at the head of the Gentiles; cause this to be heard, give praise, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. 8 Behold, I turn them from the land of the north wind and gather them from the coasts of the earth; there shall be blind and lame among them, and women with child and those that travail with child together; a great company shall return there. 9 They shall come with weeping, but with mercies I will cause them to return; I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, in which they shall not stumble; for I shall be a father to Israel, and Ephraim shall be my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye Gentiles, and cause it to be known in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock. 11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. 12 Therefore they shall come and do praises in the height of Zion and shall run unto the goodness of the LORD, unto the bread, and unto the wine, and unto the oil, and unto the gain of the flock and of the herd and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14 And I will satiate the soul of the priest with fatness, and my people shall be filled with my goodness, said the LORD.
15 Thus hath the LORD said; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her sons, she refused to be comforted regarding her sons, because they perished.
16 Thus hath the LORD said; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17 There is also hope for thine end, saith the LORD, and the sons shall come again to their own border. 18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast afflicted me, and I was chastised as an indomitable bullock: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. 19 Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, and even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth. 20 Peradventure is Ephraim a precious son unto me? Peradventure is he unto me a delightful child? With all this since I spoke of him, I have remembered him constantly. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him; in tenderness I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 Establish signs, make thee high markers; consider the highway with great care, even the way which thou didst come; return, O virgin of Israel, return unto these thy cities. 22 How long wilt thou wander, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD will bring forth a new thing upon the earth, A woman shall compass the man.
23 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said; Even yet shall they speak this word in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof when I shall turn their captivity: The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice and mountain of holiness.
24 And Judah shall dwell in her, and also in all her cities, husbandmen, and those that go forth with flocks. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have filled every sorrowful soul.
26 Upon this I awoke, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up and to break down and to throw down and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them, to build and to plant, said the LORD.
29 In those days they shall no longer say, The fathers have eaten the sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30 But each one shall die for his own iniquity; every man that eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.