The Remnant of Israel Saved
1 “Atthe same time,” says theLord,“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
2 Thus says theLord:
“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness—
# Israel, whenI went to give him rest.”
3 TheLordhas appeared of old to me,saying:
# “Yes,I have loved you withan everlasting love;
# Therefore with lovingkindness I havedrawn you.
4 AgainI will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
# You shall again be adorned with yourtambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
5 You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;
The planters shall plant and eatthemas ordinary food.
6 For there shall be a day
Whenthe watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim,
# ‘Arise, and let us go uptoZion,
To theLordour God.’ ”
7 For thus says theLord:
# “Sing with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘OLord, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’
8 Behold, I will bring themfrom the north country,
# Andgather them from the ends of the earth,
Amongthem the blind and the lame,
The woman with child
And the one who labors with child, together;
A great throng shall return there.
9 They shall come with weeping,
And with supplications I will lead them.
# I will cause them to walkby the rivers of waters,
In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;
For I am a Father to Israel,
# And EphraimisMyfirstborn.
10 “Hear the word of theLord, O nations,
And declareitin the isles afar off, and say,
# ‘He who scattered Israelwill gather him,
And keep him as a shepherddoeshis flock.’
11 FortheLordhas redeemed Jacob,
# And ransomed himfrom the hand of one stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing inthe height of Zion,
# Streaming tothe goodness of theLord—
For wheat and new wine and oil,
For the young of the flock and the herd;
# Their souls shall be like awell-watered garden,
# And 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.
14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says theLord.”
Mercy on Ephraim
15 Thus says theLord:
# “A voice was heard inRamah,
# Lamentationandbitterweeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted for her children,
# Becausetheyareno more.”
16 Thus says theLord:
# “Refrain your voice fromweeping,
And your eyes from tears;
For your work shall be rewarded, says theLord,
And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 There ishope in your future, says theLord,
Thatyourchildren shall come back to their own border.
18 “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:
# ‘You havechastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained bull;
# Restore me, and I will return,
For YouaretheLordmy God.
19 Surely,after my turning, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;
# I wasashamed, yes, even humiliated,
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 IsEphraim My dear son?
Ishea pleasant child?
For though I spoke against him,
I earnestly remember him still;
# Therefore My heart yearns for him;
# I will surely have mercy on him, says theLord.
21 “Set up signposts,
Make landmarks;
# Set your heart toward the highway,
The way inwhichyou went.
Turn back, O virgin of Israel,
Turn back to these your cities.
22 How long will yougad about,
# O youbacksliding daughter?
For theLordhas created a new thing in the earth—
A woman shall encompass a man.”
Future Prosperity of Judah
23 Thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity:‘TheLordbless you, O home of justice,andmountain of holiness!’
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, andin all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks.
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”
26 After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep wassweet to me.
27 “Behold, the days are coming, says theLord, thatI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass,thatas I havewatched over themto pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over themto build and to plant, says theLord.
29 In those days they shall say no more:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
A New Covenant
31 “Behold, thedays are coming, says theLord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the daythatI took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says theLord.
33 But thisisthe covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says theLord:I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts;and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know theLord,’ forthey all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says theLord. ForI will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
35 Thus says theLord,
# Who gives the sun for a light by day,
The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
# Who disturbsthe sea,
And its waves roar
# (TheLordof hostsisHis name):
36 “Ifthose ordinances depart
From before Me, says theLord,
Thenthe seed of Israel shall also cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”
37 Thus says theLord:
# “If heaven above can be measured,
And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
# I will alsocast off all the seed of Israel
For all that they have done, says theLord.
38 “Behold, the days are coming, says theLord, that the city shall be built for theLordfrom the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron,to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east,shallbeholy to theLord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”