Jeremiah 31:15-20

Common English Bible

¹⁵ The Lord proclaims:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and wailing.
It’s Rachel crying for her children;
    she refuses to be consoled,
    because her children are no more.
¹⁶ The Lord proclaims:
Keep your voice from crying
    and your eyes from weeping,
    because your endurance will be rewarded,
        declares the Lord.
    They will return from the land of their enemy!
¹⁷ There’s hope for your future,
    declares the Lord.
        Your children will return home!

¹⁸ I hear, yes, I hear Ephraim lamenting:
    “You disciplined me,
        and I learned my lesson,
    even though I was as stubborn as a mule.
Bring me back, let me return,
    because you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ After I turned away from you,
    I regretted it;
    I realized what I had done,
        and I have hit myself^[a]—
    I was humiliated and disgraced,
        and I have carried this disgrace
        since I was young.”

²⁰ Isn’t Ephraim my much-loved child?
    Don’t I utterly adore him?
Even when I scold him,
    I still hold him dear.
I yearn for him and love him deeply,
    declares the Lord.