Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy
“At that time,” declares Yahweh, “I will be the aGod of all the bfamilies of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
2 Thus says Yahweh,
“The people who survived the sword
aFound grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when it went to bfind its relief.”
3 Yahweh appeared to him from afar, saying,
“I have aloved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with blovingkindness.
4 aAgain I will build you, and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
Again you will take up your btambourines
And go forth to the dances of those ccelebrating.
5 Again you will aplant vineyards
On the hills of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And will enjoy them.
6 For there will be a day when watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim call out,
‘Arise, and alet us go up to Zion,
To Yahweh our God.’”
7 For thus says Yahweh,
“aSing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the bhead of the nations;
Make it heard, give praise, and say,
‘O Yahweh, csave Your people,
The dremnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I am abringing them from the north country,
And I will bgather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them the cblind and the dlame,
The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;
A great assembly, they will return here.
9 aWith weeping they will come,
And by supplication I will lead them;
I will make them walk by bstreams of waters,
On a straight path in which they will cnot stumble;
For I am a dfather to Israel,
And Ephraim is eMy firstborn.”
10 Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations,
And declare in the acoastlands far away,
And say, “He who dispersed Israel will bgather him
And keep him as a cshepherd keeps his flock.”
11 For Yahweh has aransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was bstronger than he.
12 “They will acome and sing for joy on the bheight of Zion,
And they will be cradiant over the goodness of Yahweh—
Over the dgrain and the new wine and the oil,
And over the young of the eflock and the herd;
And their soul will be like a fwatered garden,
And they will gnever waste away again.
13 Then the virgin will be glad in the adance,
And the young men and the old, together,
For I will bturn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and give them cgladness for their sorrow.
14 I will fill the soul of the priests with richness,
And My people will be asatisfied with My goodness,” declares Yahweh.
15 Thus says Yahweh,
“aA voice is heard in bRamah,
Wailing and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She crefuses to be comforted for her children
Because dthey are no more.”
16 Thus says Yahweh,
“aRestrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears,
For your bwork will be rewarded,” declares Yahweh,
“And they will creturn from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is ahope for your future,” declares Yahweh,
“And your children will return to their own territory.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim agrieving,
‘You have bchastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained ccalf;
dCause me to return that I may return,
For You are Yahweh my God.
19 For after I turned away, I arepented;
And after I was instructed, I bslapped my thigh;
I was cashamed and also dishonored
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 Is aEphraim My dear son?
Is he a delightful child?
Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him;
Therefore My binmost being yearns for him;
I will surely chave compassion on him,” declares Yahweh.
21 “Set up roadmarks for yourself,
Place for yourself guideposts;
aSet your heart to the highway,
The way by which you went.
bReturn, O virgin of Israel,
Return to these your cities.
22 How long will you go here and there,
O afaithless daughter?
For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth—
A woman will encompass a man.”
23 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I areturn their fortunes,
‘Yahweh bless you, O babode of righteousness,
O choly hill!’
24 And Judah and all its cities will ainhabit it together, the farmer and they who go about with flocks. 25 aFor I satisfy the weary soul and fill up every soul who wastes away.” 26 At this I aawoke and looked, and my bsleep was pleasant to me.
The New Covenant
27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will asow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. 28 And it will be that as I have awatched over them to buproot, to tear down, to pull down, to destroy, and to bring calamity, so I will watch over them to cbuild and to plant,” declares Yahweh.
29 “In those days they will not say again,
‘aThe fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 But aeveryone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.
31 “aBehold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will cut a bnew covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the acovenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I btook them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ccovenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh. 33 “But athis is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “bI will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and cI will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 And they will anot teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ for they will all bknow Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares Yahweh, “for I will cforgive their iniquity, and their dsin I will remember no more.”
35 Thus says Yahweh,
Who agives the sun for light by day
And the statutes for the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who bstirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
cYahweh of hosts is His name:
36 “aIf these statutes are removed
From before Me,” declares Yahweh,
“Then the seed of Israel also will bcease
From being a nation before Me forever.”
37 Thus says Yahweh,
“aIf the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also breject all the seed of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares Yahweh.
38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when the acity will be rebuilt for Yahweh from the bTower of Hananel to the cCorner Gate. 39 The ameasuring line will go out farther, straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 And athe whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook bKidron, to the corner of the cHorse Gate toward the east, shall be dholy to Yahweh; it will not be uprooted or pulled down anymore forever.”