5  “Thus says the Lord:

We have heard a cry of panic,

of terror, and no peace.

6  Ask now, and see,

can a man bear a child?

^kWhy then do I see every man

with his hands on his stomach ^klike a woman in labor?

^lWhy has every face turned pale?

7  Alas! ^mThat day is so great

ⁿthere is none like it;

it is a time of distress for Jacob;

yet he shall be saved out of it.

10  ^s“Then fear not, ^tO Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,

nor be dismayed, O Israel;

for behold, ^sI will save you from far away,

^uand your offspring from the land of their captivity.

^sJacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

and none shall make him afraid.

11  ^vFor I am with you to save you,

declares the Lord;

^vI will make a full end of all the nations

among whom I scattered you,

but of you I will not make a full end.

^vI will ^wdiscipline you in just measure,

and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

12  “For thus says the Lord:

^xYour hurt is incurable,

^yand your wound is grievous.

13  There is none to uphold your cause,

no medicine for your wound,

^zno healing for you.

14  ^aAll your lovers have forgotten you;

they care nothing for you;

for I have dealt you the blow of ^ban enemy,

the punishment ^cof a merciless foe,

because your guilt is great,

^dbecause your sins are flagrant.

15  ^xWhy do you cry out over your hurt?

^xYour pain is incurable.

Because your guilt is great,

^dbecause your sins are flagrant,

I have done these things to you.

16  ^eTherefore all who devour you shall be devoured,

and ^fall your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;

^gthose who plunder you shall be plundered,

^hand all who prey on you I will make a prey.

17  ⁱFor I will restore ^jhealth to you,

and ^kyour wounds I will heal,

declares the Lord,

because ^lthey have called you an outcast:

^l‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

18  “Thus says the Lord:

Behold, ^mI will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob

and have compassion on his dwellings;

the city shall be rebuilt on ⁿits mound,

and the palace shall stand where it used to be.

19  ^oOut of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,

and the voices of those who celebrate.

^pI will multiply them, and they shall not be few;

I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.

20  ^qTheir children shall be as they were of old,

and their congregation shall be established before me,

and I will punish all who oppress them.

21  ^rTheir prince shall be one of themselves;

^rtheir ruler shall come out from their midst;

^sI will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,

^tfor who would dare of himself to approach me?

declares the Lord.

22  ^uAnd you shall be my people,

and I will be your God.”

23  ^vBehold ^wthe storm of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest;

it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

24  ^xThe fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has executed and accomplished

the intentions of his mind.

^yIn the latter days you will understand this.

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 him² 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 heart³ 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.’

35  Thus says the Lord,

who ^zgives the sun for light by day

and ^athe fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

^bthe Lord of hosts is his name:

36  ^c“If this fixed order departs

from before me, declares the Lord,

then shall the offspring of Israel cease

from being a nation before me forever.”

37  Thus says the Lord:

“If the heavens above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

^dthen I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

for all that they have done,

declares the Lord.”