1 “At that time,” declares יהוה, “I shall be the Elohim of all the clans of Yisra’ĕl, and they shall be My people.”
2 Thus said יהוה, “A people escaped from the sword found favour in the wilderness, Yisra’ĕl, when it went to find rest.”
3 יהוה appeared to me from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I shall draw you with kindness.
4 “I am going to build you again. And you shall be rebuilt, O maiden of Yisra’ĕl! Again you shall take up your tambourines, and go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
5 “Again you shall plant vines on the mountains of Shomeron. The planters shall plant and treat them as common.
6 “For there shall be a day when the watchmen cry on Mount Ephrayim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Tsiyon, to יהוה our Elohim.’ ”
7 For thus said יהוה, “Sing with gladness for Ya‛aqoḇ, and shout among the chief of the nations. Cry out, give praise, and say, ‘O יהוה, save Your people, the remnant of Yisra’ĕl!’
8 “See, I am bringing them from the land of the north, and shall gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labour, together – a great assembly returning here.
9 “With weeping they shall come, and with their prayers I bring them. I shall make them walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they do not stumble. For I shall be a Father to Yisra’ĕl, and Ephrayim – he is My first-born.
10 “Hear the word of יהוה, O gentiles, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Yisra’ĕl gathers him, and shall guard him as a shepherd his flock.’
11 “For יהוה shall ransom Ya‛aqoḇ, and redeem him from the hand of one stronger than he.
12 “And they shall come in and shall sing on the height of Tsiyon, and stream to the goodness of יהוה, for grain and for new wine and for oil, and for the young of the flock and the herd. And their being shall be like a well-watered garden, and never languish again.
13 “Then shall a maiden rejoice in a dance, and young men and old, together. And I shall turn their mourning to joy, and shall comfort them, and shall make them rejoice from their sorrow,
14 and shall fill the being of the priests with fatness. And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness,” declares יהוה.
15 Thus said יהוה, “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing, bitter weeping, Raḥĕl weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
16 Thus said יהוה, “Hold back your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work,” declares יהוה, “and they shall return from the land of the enemy.
17 “And there is expectancy for your latter end,” declares יהוה, “and your children shall return to their own country.
18 “I have clearly heard Ephrayim lamenting, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, like an untrained calf. Turn me back, and I shall turn back, for You are יהוה my Elohim.
19 ‘For after my turning back, I repented. And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh. I was ashamed, even humiliated, for I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 “Is Ephrayim a precious son to Me, a child of delights? For though I spoke against him, I still remembered him. That is why My affections were deeply moved for him. I have great compassion for him,” declares יהוה.
21 “Set up signposts, make landmarks; set your heart toward the highway, the way in which you went. Turn back, O maiden of Yisra’ĕl, turn back to these cities of yours!
22 “Till when would you turn here and there, O backsliding daughter? For יהוה has created what is new on earth: a woman encompasses a man!”
23 Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Let them once again say this word in the land of Yehuḏah and in its cities, when I turn back their captivity, ‘יהוה bless you, O home of righteousness, mountain of set-apartness!’
24 “And in Yehuḏah and all its cities farmers and those who journey with flocks, shall dwell together.
25 “For I shall fill the weary being, and I shall replenish every grieved being.”
26 At this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.
27 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “that I shall sow the house of Yisra’ĕl and the house of Yehuḏah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.
28 “And it shall be, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so I shall watch over them to build and to plant,” declares יהוה.
29 “In those days they shall no longer say, ‘The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are blunted.’
30 “But each one shall die for his own crookedness – whoever eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be blunted.
31 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’ĕl and with the house of Yehuḏah,
32 not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares יהוה.
33 “For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, declares יהוה: I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
34 “And no longer shall they teach, each one his neighbour, and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know יהוה,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares יהוה. “For I shall forgive their crookedness, and remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus said יהוה, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the laws of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, and its waves roar – יהוה of hosts is His Name:
36 “If these laws vanish from before Me,” declares יהוה, “then the seed of Yisra’ĕl shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
37 Thus said יהוה, “If the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I would also cast off all the seed of Yisra’ĕl for all that they have done,” declares יהוה.
38 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “that the city shall be built for יהוה from the Tower of Ḥanan’ĕl to the Corner Gate.
39 “And the measuring line shall again extend straight ahead to the hill Garĕḇ, then it shall turn toward Go‛ah.
40 “And all the valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the wadi Qiḏron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, is to be set-apart to יהוה. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”