1At that time , saith Jehovah , will I be the God of all the families of Israel , and they shall be my people . 2Thus saith Jehovah , The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness ; even Israel , when I went to cause him to rest . 3Jehovah appeared of old unto me , saying , Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love : therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee . 4Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built , O virgin of Israel : again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets , and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry . 5Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria ; the planters shall plant , and shall enjoy the fruit thereof . 6For there shall be a day , that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry , Arise ye , and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God . 7For thus saith Jehovah , Sing with gladness for Jacob , and shout for the chief of the nations : publish ye , praise ye , and say , O Jehovah , save thy people , the remnant of Israel . 8Behold , I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame , the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together : a great company shall they return hither . 9They shall come with weeping ; and with supplications will I lead them : I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters , in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble ; for I am a father to Israel , and Ephraim is my first-born. 10Hear the word of Jehovah , O ye nations , and declare it in the isles afar off ; and say , He that scattered Israel will gather him , and keep him , as a shepherd doth his flock . 11For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob , and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he . 12And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion , and shall flow unto the goodness of Jehovah , to the grain , and to the new wine , and to the oil , and to the young of the flock and of the herd : and their soul shall be as a watered garden ; and they shall not sorrow any more at all . 13Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance , and the young men and the old together ; for I will turn their mourning into joy , and will comfort them , and make them rejoice from their sorrow . 14And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness , and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness , saith Jehovah .
The New Covenant
15Thus saith Jehovah : A voice is heard in Ramah , lamentation , and bitter weeping , Rachel weeping for her children ; she refuseth to be comforted for her children , because they are not . 16Thus saith Jehovah : Refrain thy voice from weeping , and thine eyes from tears ; for thy work shall be rewarded , saith Jehovah ; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jehovah ; and thy children shall come again to their own border . 18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus , Thou hast chastised me , and I was chastised , as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke : turn thou me , and I shall be turned ; for thou art Jehovah my God . 19Surely after that I was turned , I repented ; and after that I was instructed , I smote upon my thigh : I was ashamed , yea , even confounded , because I did bear the reproach of my youth . 20Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a darling child ? for as often as I speak against him , I do earnestly remember him still : therefore my heart yearneth for him ; I will surely have mercy upon him , saith Jehovah . 21Set thee up waymarks , make thee guide-posts; set thy heart toward the highway , even the way by which thou wentest : turn again , O virgin of Israel , turn again to these thy cities . 22How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter ? for Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall encompass a man . 23Thus saith Jehovah of hosts , the God of Israel , Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof , when I shall bring again their captivity : Jehovah bless thee , O habitation of righteousness , O mountain of holiness . 24And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together , the husbandmen, and they that go about with flocks . 25For I have satiated the weary soul , and every sorrowful soul have I replenished . 26Upon this I awaked , and beheld ; and my sleep was sweet unto me . 27Behold , the days come , saith Jehovah , that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. 28And it shall come to pass that , like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict , so will I watch over them to build and to plant , saith Jehovah . 29In those days they shall say no more , The fathers have eaten sour grapes , and the children ’s teeth are set on edge . 30But every one shall die for his own iniquity : every man that eateth the sour grapes , his teeth shall be set on edge . 31Behold , the days come , saith Jehovah , that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel , and with the house of Judah : 32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; which my covenant they brake , although I was a husband unto them , saith Jehovah . 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days , saith Jehovah : I will put my law in their inward parts , and in their heart will I write it ; and I will be their God , and they shall be my people . 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor , and every man his brother , saying, Know Jehovah ; for they shall all know me , from the least of them unto the greatest of them , saith Jehovah : for I will forgive their iniquity , and their sin will I remember no more .
The Assurance of God's Faithfulness
35Thus saith Jehovah , who giveth the sun for a light by day , and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night , who stirreth up the sea , so that the waves thereof roar ; Jehovah of hosts is his name : 36If these ordinances depart from before me , saith Jehovah , then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever . 37Thus saith Jehovah : If heaven above can be measured , and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath , then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done , saith Jehovah . 38Behold , the days come , saith Jehovah , that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the tower of Hananel unto the gate of the corner . 39And the measuring line shall go out further straight onward unto the hill Gareb , and shall turn about unto Goah . 40And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes , and all the fields unto the brook Kidron , unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east , shall be holy unto Jehovah ; it shall not be plucked up , nor thrown down any more for ever .