2  Thus says the Lord:

“The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

^bwhen Israel sought for rest,

3  the Lord appeared to him¹ from far away.

^cI have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore ^dI have continued ^emy faithfulness to you.

4  ^fAgain I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

^gAgain you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in ^hthe dance of the merrymakers.

5  ⁱAgain you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.

6  For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

in ^jthe hill country of Ephraim:

^k‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’”

7  For thus says the Lord:

^l“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for ^mthe chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

ⁿ‘O Lord, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

8  Behold, I will bring them ^ofrom the north country

and ^pgather them from ^qthe farthest parts of the earth,

among them ^rthe blind and the lame,

the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

a great company, they shall return here.

9  ^sWith weeping they shall come,

^tand with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

I will make them ^uwalk by brooks of water,

^vin a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

for ^wI am a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is ^xmy firstborn.

10  “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^pgather him,

and will keep him ^yas a shepherd keeps his flock.’

11  ^zFor the Lord has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from ^ahands too strong for him.

12  They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

^band they shall be radiant ^cover the goodness of the Lord,

^dover the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

^etheir life shall be like a watered garden,

^fand they shall languish no more.

13  ^gThen shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

^hI will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

14  ⁱI will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,

and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

declares the Lord.”

15  Thus says the Lord:

^j“A voice is heard in ^kRamah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

^lRachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

^mbecause they are no more.”

16  Thus says the Lord:

“Keep your voice from weeping,

and your eyes from tears,

for there is a reward for your work,

declares the Lord,

and ⁿthey shall come back from the land of the enemy.

17  ^oThere is hope for your future,

declares the Lord,

and your children shall come back to their own country.

18  I have heard ^pEphraim grieving,

‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,

like an untrained calf;

^qbring me back that I may be restored,

for you are the Lord my God.

19  For after ^rI had turned away, I relented,

and after I was instructed, ^sI struck my thigh;

^tI was ashamed, and I was confounded,

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20  ^pIs Ephraim my dear son?

^uIs he my darling child?

For as often as I speak against him,

I do remember him still.

^vTherefore my heart² yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the Lord.

21  ^w“Set up road markers for yourself;

make yourself guideposts;

^xconsider well the highway,

^wthe road by which you went.

Return, O virgin Israel,

return to these your cities.

22  ^yHow long will you waver,

^zO faithless daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:

a woman encircles a man.”

^b“‘The Lord bless you, ^cO habitation of righteousness,

^dO holy hill!’

^m“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’