⁷ For thus says the Lord:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ‘The Lord has saved his people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ Behold, I will bring them from the north country,
    and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
    the woman with child and her who is in travail, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
⁹ With weeping they shall come,
    and with consolations^[b] I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
    in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
for I am a father to Israel,
    and E′phraim is my first-born.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands afar off;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
    and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
    and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
    and they shall languish no more.
¹³ Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴ I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
                says the Lord.”

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    because they are not.”

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
    and your eyes from tears;
for your work shall be rewarded,
                says the Lord,
    and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ There is hope for your future,
                says the Lord,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.