16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thy eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in thy end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
19 Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, and even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 Set thee up way-marks, make thee high heaps: set thy heart towards the highway, even the way which thou wentest; turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22 How long wilt thou wander about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.