The Lord appeared to us in the past,[a] saying:

“I have loved(A) you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn(B) you with unfailing kindness.
I will build you up again,
    and you, Virgin(C) Israel, will be rebuilt.(D)
Again you will take up your timbrels(E)
    and go out to dance(F) with the joyful.(G)
Again you will plant(H) vineyards
    on the hills of Samaria;(I)
the farmers will plant them
    and enjoy their fruit.(J)
There will be a day when watchmen(K) cry out
    on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”(L)

This is what the Lord says:

“Sing(M) with joy for Jacob;
    shout for the foremost(N) of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
    Lord, save(O) your people,
    the remnant(P) of Israel.’
See, I will bring them from the land of the north(Q)
    and gather(R) them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind(S) and the lame,(T)
    expectant mothers and women in labor;
    a great throng will return.
They will come with weeping;(U)
    they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead(V) them beside streams of water(W)
    on a level(X) path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,(Y)
    and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 31:3 Or Lord has appeared to us from afar

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