16. Thus says the Lord:“Refrain your voice from weeping,And your eyes from tears;For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17. There is hope in your future, says the Lord,That your children shall come back to their own border.
18. “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,Like an untrained bull;Restore me, and I will return,For You are the Lord my God.
19. Surely, after my turning, I repented;And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated,Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20. Is Ephraim My dear son?Is he a pleasant child?For though I spoke against him,I earnestly remember him still;Therefore My heart yearns for him;I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.
21. “Set up signposts,Make landmarks;Set your heart toward the highway,The way in which you went.Turn back, O virgin of Israel,Turn back to these your cities.
22. How long will you gad about,O you backsliding daughter?For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—A woman shall encompass a man.”
23. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’
24. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks.
25. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”