1
At the same time, says◦ Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.
2
Thus says Jehovah, The people surviving the sword found grace in the wilderness, in My going◦ to give··repose to him, to Israel.
3
Jehovah has been seen far··off to me, saying, And I have loved thee with an eternal love; therefore with mercy have I drawn thee.
4
Still I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel; thou shalt still be decked with thy timbrels, and shalt go··out with the dancing of those who play.
5
Thou shalt yet plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall harvest··grapes*.
6
For there· shall ·be a day, that the observers on◦ Mount Ephraim shall call, Arise ye, and let us go··up to Zion to▵ Jehovah our God.
7
For thus says Jehovah: Sing··aloud with gladness for Jacob, and exult at the head of the nations; make it heard, praise ye, and say, O Jehovah, save Thy people, what··is··left of Israel.
8
Behold, I will bring them from the north land, and bring· them ·together from the flanks of the earth, and among◦ them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and her that gives··birth together; a great assembly shall return thither.
9
They shall come with weeping, and with supplications◦ will I bring◦ them; I will cause them to walk◦ to▵ the brooks of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.
10
Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, and tell it in the islands afar off, and say, He that dispersed Israel will bring· him ·together, and keep him, as a shepherd does his drove.
11
For Jehovah has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from a hand more firm than his.
12
And they shall come and sing··aloud in the height of Zion, and shall flow··together to▵ the goodness of Jehovah, for▵ grain, and for▵ must*, and for▵ olive··oil, and for▵ the sons of the flock and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a well soaked garden; and they shall not again be··sad any··more.
13
Then shall the virgin be··glad with dancing, and young··men and old together; and I will turn their mourning to joy, and will comfort them, and make· them ·glad from their sorrow.
14
And I will soak the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says◦ Jehovah.
15
Thus says Jehovah: A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation◦, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her sons refused to be comforted for her sons, for they were not.
16
Thus says Jehovah: Withhold thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for there· shall ·be a reward for thy work, says◦ Jehovah; and they shall return from the land of the enemy.
17
And there··is hope◦* for thy last times, says◦ Jehovah, and sons shall return to their border.
18
Hearing I have heard Ephraim being··sorry for himself; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf not trained*; Cause me to return, and I shall return; for Thou◦ art Jehovah my God.
19
Surely▵ after I was turned··back, I repented; and after I was made··to··know, I slapped upon my thigh; I was··ashamed, yea◦, even humiliated, because◦ I carried the reproach of my youth.
20
Is not Ephraim My precious son? Is he not a pleasing child? For after I spoke against◦ him, remembering I still remember him; therefore My bowels are··tumultuous for him; having··compassion I will have··compassion upon him, says◦ Jehovah.
21
Set··up for thyself markers◦, set for thyself pillars▵; put thy heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest; return, O virgin of Israel, return to▵ these thy cities.
22
How▵ long wilt thou go··about, O thou backsliding daughter? For Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth: a female shall surround a mighty··man.
23
Thus says Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel: As yet they shall say this word in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall return their captivity: Jehovah bless thee, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24
And they shall dwell in her, in Judah and all the cities thereof together, farmers, and they who journey with a drove.
25
For I have soaked* the fainting soul, and I have filled every sad soul.
26
Upon this I awoke and saw; and my sleep was··agreeable to me.
27
Behold, the days come, says◦ Jehovah, 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 be, as◦ I have watched◦ over them, to pluck··up, and to tear··down, and to break··down, and to make··perish, and to bring··evil; so will I watch◦ over them, to build and to plant, says◦ Jehovah.
29
In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a wild··grape, and the teeth of the sons are dulled.
30
But◦ a man◦ shall··die in his own iniquity; every man that eats the wild··grape, his teeth shall be dulled.
31
Behold, the days are coming, says◦ Jehovah, and I will cut a new covenant with◦ the house of Israel, and with◦ the house of Judah:
32
not according··to the covenant that I cut with◦ their fathers in the day that I held· their hand ·firmly to bring· them ·out from the land of Egypt; which covenant of Mine they made··of··none··effect, although I▵ was a husband unto them, says◦ Jehovah;
33
for this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, says◦ Jehovah, I will put◦ My law in their inward··parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34
And they shall teach no more, a man◦ his companion, and a man◦ his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall· all ·Know Me, from the smallest of them unto the greatest of them, says◦ Jehovah: for I will pardon their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35
Thus says Jehovah, who gives the sun for a light by··day, and the stated star'>times of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who agitates the sea so that the waves thereof make··noise; Jehovah of Armies is His name;
36
If those ordinances depart from before Me, says◦ Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me all the days.
37
Thus says Jehovah: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched··out below, even I◦ will reject all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says◦ Jehovah.
38
Behold, the days come, says◦ Jehovah, that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39
And the measuring line shall yet go··out in··front··of it on the hill Gareb, and shall turn··around to Goath.
40
And all the valley of the corpses, and of the burnt fatness, and all the fields◦ to◦ the brook of Kidron, to◦ the corner of the gate of horses toward the sunrise, shall be holy to Jehovah; it shall not be plucked··up, nor broken··down forever to eternity.
