1 Jehovah proclaims: »At that time I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.«

2 Jehovah says: »The people who survived the sword war found favor in the wilderness. Israel went to find its rest.«

3 Jehovah appeared to him from afar, saying: »I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

4 »I will build you and you will be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You will take up your tambourines and go to the dances of the merrymakers.

5 »You will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria. The planters will plant and will enjoy them.

6 »There will be a day when watchmen on the hills of Ephraim call out: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to Jehovah our God.’«

7 Jehovah says: »Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations.« Proclaim! Give praise and say, O Jehovah, save your people, the remnant of Israel.

8 I am bringing them from the North Country. I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth. Among them are the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she who is in labor with child. As a great company they will return here.

9 With weeping they will come. By supplication I will lead them. I will make them walk by streams of waters on a straight path in which they will not stumble. For I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 Hear the word of Jehovah, O nations. Declare in the coastlands afar off. Say: »He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.

11 »Jehovah will free the descendants of Jacob and reclaim them from those who are stronger than they are.

12 »They will come and shout for joy on top of Mount Zion. They will stream to it to enjoy Jehovah’s blessings: fresh grain, new wine, olive oil, lambs and calves. Their lives will be like well-watered gardens, and they will never suffer again.«

13 »Then young women will rejoice and dance along with young men and old men. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them. I will replace their sorrow with joy.

14 »I will satisfy the priests with rich food. My people will be filled with my blessings,« proclaims Jehovah.

15 »This is what Jehovah says: ‘A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of crying in bitter grief. Rachel is crying for her children. She refuses to be comforted, because they are dead.’«

16 This is what Jehovah says: »‘Stop your crying, and wipe away your tears. You will be rewarded for your work,’ declares Jehovah. ‘You will return from the land of the enemy.’

17 »‘Your future is filled with hope,’ says Jehovah. ‘Your children will return to their own territory.’

18 »I hear the people of Israel say in grief, ‘Jehovah, we were like an untamed animal, but you taught us to obey. Bring us back for we are ready to return to you, Jehovah our God.

19 »‘We turned away from you. But soon we wanted to return. After you had punished us we hung our heads in grief. We were ashamed and disgraced because we sinned when we were young.’«

20 »Ephraim, O Ephraim my dear delightful son! Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him. My heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him,« declares Jehovah.

21 »Set up road marks. Place guideposts! Direct your mind to the highway, the way by which you went. Return, O virgin of Israel. Return to these your cities.

22 »How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth. A woman will protect a man.«

23 Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel says: »Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their prosperity. They will say: ‘Jehovah bless you, O abode of righteousness, O holy mountain!’

24 »Judah and all its cities will dwell together in it, the farmer and the shepherds with the flocks.

25 »For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone filled with sorrow.«

26 At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant.

27 Jehovah says: »The time is coming when I will plant the nations of Israel and Judah with people and animals.«

28 »I watched over them to uproot them and tear them down, to ruin and hurt them. Now I will watch over them to build them up. I will plant them,« says Jehovah.

29 »When that time comes people will no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 »Each person will die for his own sin. Whoever eats sour grapes will have his own teeth set on edge.«

31 »The time is coming,« proclaims Jehovah, »when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

32 »It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, although I was a husband to them,« says Jehovah.

33 »This is the covenant agreement that I will make with Israel after those days,« declares Jehovah. »I will put my teachings Law inside them. I will write those teachings Law on their hearts innermanmindwillconscienceunderstanding. I will be their God, and they will be my people.«

34 »No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying: ‘Know Jehovah.’ »All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,« declares Jehovah. »I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold remember their sins against them.«

35 Jehovah provides the sun to be a light during the day. He orders the moon and stars to be lights during the night. He stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. His name is Jehovah of Hosts. This is what Jehovah says:

36 »Only if this covenant is removed,« declares Jehovah, »will Israel's descendants stop being a nation in my presence.«

37 This is what Jehovah says: »‘If the heavens could be measured or the foundations of the earth could be searched, I would reject all of Israel's descendants because of everything that they have done,’ declares Jehovah.«

38 »The time is coming,« declares Jehovah, »when the city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to Corner Gate.

39 »A measuring line will stretch from there straight to the Hill of Gareb, and then it will turn to Goah.

40 »The whole valley is filled with its dead bodies and ashes. The entire area to the Kidron Valley, as far as the corner of Horse Gate in the east, will be holy to Jehovah. It will never be uprooted or torn down again.«