The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy
1
1"At that time, declares the LORD, 2I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people."
2
Thus says the LORD: "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; 3when Israel sought for rest,
3
the LORD appeared to hima from far away. 4I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore 5I have continued 6my faithfulness to you.
4
7Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! 8Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in 9the dance of the merrymakers.
5
10Again 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 11the hill country of Ephraim: 12'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'"
7
For thus says the LORD: 13"Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for 14the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, 15'O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.'
8
Behold, I will bring them 16from the north country and 17gather them from 18the farthest parts of the earth, among them 19the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.
9
20With weeping they shall come, 21and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them 22walk by brooks of water, 23in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for 24I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is 25my firstborn.
10
"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will 26gather him, and will keep him 27as a shepherd keeps his flock.'
12
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, 30and they shall be radiant 31over the goodness of the LORD, 32over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; 33their life shall be like a watered garden, 34and they shall languish no more.
13
35Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. 36I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14
37I 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: 38"A voice is heard in 39Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. 40Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, 41because 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 42they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17
43There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country.
18
I have heard 44Ephraim grieving, 'You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; 45bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God.
19
For after 46I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, 47I struck my thigh; 48I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'
20
49Is Ephraim my dear son? 50Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. 51Therefore my heartb yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD.
21
52"Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts; 53consider well the highway, 54the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities.
22
55How long will you waver, 56O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man."
23
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, 57when I restore their fortunes: 58"'The LORD bless you, 59O habitation of righteousness, 60O holy hill!'
24
61And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and 62the farmers and those who wander with their flocks.
26
At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
27
64"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when 65I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with 66the seed of man and the seed of beast.
28
And it shall come to pass that 67as I have watched over them 68to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, 69so I will watch over them 70to build and to plant, declares the LORD.
29
In those days they shall no longer say: 71"'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'
30
72But everyone shall die for his own sin. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
The New Covenant
31
73"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make 74a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
32
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when 75I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, 76though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
33
77But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: 78I will put my law within them, and I will write it 79on their hearts. 80And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34
And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'81for they shall all know me, 82from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For 83I will forgive their iniquity, and 84I will remember their sin no more."
35
Thus says the LORD, who 85gives the sun for light by day and 86the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- 87the LORD of hosts is his name:
36
88"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, 89then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD."
38
90"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD 91from the Tower of Hananel to 92the Corner Gate.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)