7For this is what the LORD says: Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Proclaim, praise, and say, "LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel!"
8Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land. I will gather them from remote regions of the earth--the blind and the lame will be with them, along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth. They will return here as a great assembly!
9They will come weeping, but I will bring them back with consolation. I will lead them to wadis filled with water, by a smooth way where they will not stumble, for I am Israel's Father, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10Nations, hear the word of the LORD, and tell it among the far off coasts and islands! Say, "The one who scattered Israel will gather him. He will watch over him as a shepherd guards his flock,
12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant with joy because of the LORD's goodness, because of the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil, and because of the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like an irrigated garden, and they will no longer grow weak from hunger.
13Then the young women will rejoice with dancing, while young and old men rejoice together. I will turn their mourning into joy, give them consolation, and bring happiness out of grief.
15This is what the LORD says: A voice was heard in Ramah, a lament with bitter weeping--Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more.
16This is what the LORD says: Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come--this is the LORD's declaration--and your children will return from the enemy's land.
18I have surely heard Ephraim moaning, "You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined like an untrained calf. Take me back, so that I can return, for you, LORD, are my God.
19After my return, I felt regret; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth."
20Isn't Ephraim a precious son to me, a delightful child? Whenever I speak against him, I certainly still think about him. Therefore, my inner being yearns for him; I will truly have compassion on him. This is the LORD's declaration.
21Set up road markers for yourself; establish signposts! Keep the highway in mind, the way you have traveled. Return, Virgin Israel! Return to these cities of yours.
23This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: "When I restore their fortunes, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: 'May the LORD bless you, righteous settlement, holy mountain.'
27"Look, the days are coming"--this is the LORD's declaration--"when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and the seed of animals.
28Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I watch over them to build and to plant them"--this is the LORD's declaration.
32This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt--my covenant that they broke even though I am their master"--the LORD's declaration.
33"Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days"--the LORD's declaration. "I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them"--this is the LORD's declaration. "For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
35"This is what the LORD says: The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar--the LORD of Armies is his name:
36If this fixed order departs from before me--this is the LORD's declaration--only then will Israel's descendants cease to be a nation before me forever.
37"This is what the LORD says: Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, will I reject all of Israel's descendants because of all they have done--this is the LORD's declaration.
40The whole valley--the corpses, the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east--will be holy to the LORD. It will never be uprooted or demolished again."
