Jeremiah 31:2-13

English Standard Version

²Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
^(A)when Israel sought for rest,
³    the Lord appeared to him^[a] from far away.
^(B)I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore ^(C)I have continued ^(D)my faithfulness to you.
⁴^(E)Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
^(F)Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in ^(G)the dance of the merrymakers.
⁵^(H)Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.
⁶For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
    in ^(I)the hill country of Ephraim:
^(J)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷For thus says the Lord:
^(K)“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for ^(L)the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ^(M)‘O Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸Behold, I will bring them ^(N)from the north country
    and ^(O)gather them from ^(P)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^(Q)the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
⁹^(R)With weeping they shall come,
    ^(S)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^(T)walk by brooks of water,
    ^(U)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^(V)I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is ^(W)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 ^(X)gather him,
    and will keep him ^(Y)as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
¹¹^(Z)For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from ^(AA)hands too strong for him.
¹²They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    ^(AB)and they shall be radiant ^(AC)over the goodness of the Lord,
^(AD)over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^(AE)their life shall be like a watered garden,
    ^(AF)and they shall languish no more.
¹³^(AG)Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^(AH)I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.