¹² “For thus says the Lord:
^(A)Your hurt is incurable,
    ^(B)and your wound is grievous.
¹³ There is none to uphold your cause,
    no medicine for your wound,
    ^(C)no healing for you.
^14 (D)All your lovers have forgotten you;
    they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of ^(E)an enemy,
    the punishment ^(F)of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
    ^(G)because your sins are flagrant.
^15 (H)Why do you cry out over your hurt?
    ^(I)Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
    ^(J)because your sins are flagrant,
    I have done these things to you.
^16 (K)Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
    and ^(L)all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
^(M)those who plunder you shall be plundered,
    ^(N)and all who prey on you I will make a prey.
^17 (O)For I will restore ^(P)health to you,
    and ^(Q)your wounds I will heal,
declares the Lord,
because ^(R)they have called you an outcast:
    ^(S)‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

¹⁸ “Thus says the Lord:
Behold, ^(T)I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
    and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt on ^(U)its mound,
    and the palace shall stand where it used to be.
^19 (V)Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
    and the voices of those who celebrate.
^(W)I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
    I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.
^20 (X)Their children shall be as they were of old,
    and their congregation shall be established before me,
    and I will punish all who oppress them.
^21 (Y)Their prince shall be one of themselves;
    ^(Z)their ruler shall come out from their midst;
^(AA)I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,
    ^(AB)for who would dare of himself to approach me?
declares the Lord.
^22 (AC)And you shall be my people,
    and I will be your God.”

^23 (AD)Behold ^(AE)the storm of the Lord!
    Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
^24 (AF)The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he has executed and accomplished
    the intentions of his mind.
^(AG)In the latter days you will understand this.

² Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
^(AJ)when Israel sought for rest,
³     the Lord appeared to him^[a] from far away.
^(AK)I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore ^(AL)I have continued ^(AM)my faithfulness to you.
^4 (AN)Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
^(AO)Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in ^(AP)the dance of the merrymakers.
^5 (AQ)Again 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 ^(AR)the hill country of Ephraim:
^(AS)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷ For thus says the Lord:
^(AT)“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for ^(AU)the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ^(AV)‘O Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ Behold, I will bring them ^(AW)from the north country
    and ^(AX)gather them from ^(AY)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^(AZ)the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
^9 (BA)With weeping they shall come,
    ^(BB)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^(BC)walk by brooks of water,
    ^(BD)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^(BE)I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is ^(BF)my firstborn.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^(BG)gather him,
    and will keep him ^(BH)as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
^11 (BI)For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from ^(BJ)hands too strong for him.
¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    ^(BK)and they shall be radiant ^(BL)over the goodness of the Lord,
^(BM)over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^(BN)their life shall be like a watered garden,
    ^(BO)and they shall languish no more.
^13 (BP)Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^(BQ)I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
^14 (BR)I 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:
^(BS)“A voice is heard in ^(BT)Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
^(BU)Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    ^(BV)because 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 ^(BW)they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
^17 (BX)There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.
¹⁸ I have heard ^(BY)Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
^(BZ)bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ For after ^(CA)I had turned away, I relented,
    and after I was instructed, ^(CB)I struck my thigh;
^(CC)I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
^20 (CD)Is Ephraim my dear son?
    ^(CE)Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I do remember him still.
^(CF)Therefore my heart^[b] yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.