¹⁸ I have heard Israel^[a] saying,
‘You disciplined me severely,
    like a calf that needs training for the yoke.
Turn me again to you and restore me,
    for you alone are the Lord my God.

⁹ Tears of joy will stream down their faces,
    and I will lead them home with great care.
They will walk beside quiet streams
    and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.
For I am Israel’s father,
    and Ephraim is my oldest child.

³ Turn us again to yourself, O God.
    Make your face shine down upon us.
    Only then will we be saved.

¹⁴ O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed;
    if you save me, I will be truly saved.
    My praises are for you alone!

²¹ Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains,
    the weeping and pleading of Israel’s people.
For they have chosen crooked paths
    and have forgotten the Lord their God.

²² “My wayward children,” says the Lord,
    “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.”

“Yes, we’re coming,” the people reply,
    “for you are the Lord our God.

¹³ For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent.
    They will not seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

¹⁷ “But consider the joy of those corrected by God!
    Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.