15. This is what the Lord says:“A voice was heard in Ramahof painful crying and deep sadness:Rachel crying for her children.She refused to be comforted,because her children are dead!”
16. But this is what the Lord says:“Stop crying;don’t let your eyes fill with tears.You will be rewarded for your work!” says the Lord.“The people will return from their enemy’s land.
17. So there is hope for you in the future,” says the Lord.“Your children will return to their own land.
18. “I have heard Israel moaning:‘Lord, you punished me, and I have learned my lesson.I was like a calf that had never been trained.Take me back so that I may come back.You truly are the Lord my God.
19. Lord, after I wandered away from you,I changed my heart and life.After I understood,I beat my breast with sorrow.I was ashamed and disgraced,because I suffered for the foolish things I did when I was young.’
20. “You know that Israel is my dear son,The child I love.Yes, I often speak against Israel,but I still remember him.I love him very much,and I want to comfort him,” says the Lord.
21. “People of Israel, fix the road signs.Put up signs to show you the way home.Watch the road.Pay attention to the road on which you travel.People of Israel, come home,come back to your towns.
22. You are an unfaithful daughter.How long will you wander before you come home?The Lord has made something new happen in the land:A woman will go seeking a man.”
23. The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “I will again do good things for the people of Judah. At that time the people in the land of Judah and its towns will again use these words: ‘May the Lord bless you, home of what is good, holy mountain.’
24. People in all the towns of Judah will live together in peace. Farmers and those who move around with their flocks will live together in peace.