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?

Why then do I see every man

with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor?

Why has every face turned pale?

7  Alas! That day is so great

^ethere is none like it;

it is a time of distress for Jacob;

yet he shall be saved out of it.

10  ^h“Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,

nor be dismayed, O Israel;

for behold, I will save you from far away,

and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

and none shall make him afraid.

11  For I am with you to save you,

declares the Lord;

I will make a full end of all the nations

among whom I scattered you,

but of you I will not make a full end.

I will ⁱdiscipline you in just measure,

and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

12  “For thus says the Lord:

Your hurt is ^jincurable,

and ^kyour wound is grievous.

13  There is none to uphold your cause,

no medicine for your wound,

^lno healing for you.

14  All your ^mlovers have forgotten you;

they care nothing for you;

for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,

the punishment of a merciless foe,

because your guilt is great,

because your sins are flagrant.

15  Why do you cry out over your hurt?

Your pain is incurable.

Because your guilt is great,

because your sins are flagrant,

I have done these things to you.

16  Therefore ⁿall who devour you shall be devoured,

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

those who plunder you shall be plundered,

and all who prey on you I will make a prey.

17  For I will restore ^ohealth to you,

and your wounds I will heal,

declares the Lord,

because they have called you an outcast:

‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

18  “Thus says the Lord:

Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob

and have compassion on his dwellings;

the city shall be rebuilt on its mound,

and the palace shall stand where it used to be.

19  Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,

and the voices of those who celebrate.

I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;

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

20  Their 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  Their prince shall be ^pone of themselves;

their ruler shall come out from their midst;

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

for who would dare of himself to approach me?

declares the Lord.

22  And ^ryou shall be my people,

and I will be your God.”

23  ^sBehold the storm of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest;

it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

24  The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has executed and accomplished

the intentions of his mind.

In the latter days you will understand this.

2  Thus says the Lord:

“The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,

3  the Lord appeared to him¹ from far away.

I have ^tloved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

4  Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

5  Again you shall ^uplant 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 the hill country of Ephraim:

‘Arise, and ^vlet us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’”

7  For thus says the Lord:

“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

‘O Lord, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

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

and ^xgather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame,

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

a great company, they shall return here.

9  ^yWith weeping they shall come,

and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

I will make them walk by brooks of water,

in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

for ^zI am a father to Israel,

and ^aEphraim is my firstborn.

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

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,

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

11  For the Lord ^chas ransomed Jacob

and has ^dredeemed him from hands too strong for him.

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

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,

over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

their life shall be ^elike a watered garden,

and they shall languish no more.

13  Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into ^fjoy;

I will ^gcomfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

14  I 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:

^h“A voice is heard in Ramah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

because ⁱthey 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 they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

17  There is ^jhope for your future,

declares the Lord,

and your children shall come back to their own country.

18  I have heard Ephraim grieving,

‘You have ^kdisciplined me, and I was disciplined,

like an untrained calf;

^lbring me back that I may be restored,

for you are the Lord my God.

19  For after I had turned away, I relented,

and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;

I was ashamed, and I was confounded,

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20  Is Ephraim my dear son?

Is he my darling child?

For as often as I speak against him,

I do remember him still.

Therefore my heart² yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the Lord.

21  “Set up road markers for yourself;

make yourself guideposts;

consider well the highway,

the road by which you went.

Return, O virgin Israel,

return to these your cities.

22  How long will you waver,

O faithless daughter?

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

a woman encircles a man.”

“‘The Lord bless you, O ^mhabitation of righteousness,

O holy hill!’

^o“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

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

35  Thus says the Lord,

^cwho gives the sun for light by day

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

^dwho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the Lord of hosts is his name:

36  “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  ^eThus says the Lord:

“If the heavens above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

for all that they have done,

declares the Lord.”