10-14. “Hear this, nations! God’s Message!Broadcast this all over the world!Tell them, ‘The One who scattered Israelwill gather them together again.From now on he’ll keep a careful eye on them,like a shepherd with his flock.’I, God, will pay a stiff ransom price for Jacob;I’ll free him from the grip of the Babylonian bully.The people will climb up Zion’s slopes shouting with joy,their faces beaming because of God’s bounty—Grain and wine and oil,flocks of sheep, herds of cattle.Their lives will be like a well-watered garden,never again left to dry up.Young women will dance and be happy,young men and old men will join in.I’ll convert their weeping into laughter,lavishing comfort, invading their grief with joy.I’ll make sure that their priests get three square meals a dayand that my people have more than enough.’” God’s Decree.
15-17. Again, God’s Message:“Listen to this! Laments coming out of Ramah,wild and bitter weeping.It’s Rachel weeping for her children,Rachel refusing all solace.Her children are gone,gone—long gone into exile.”But God says, “Stop your incessant weeping,hold back your tears.Collect wages from your grief work.” God’s Decree.“They’ll be coming back home!There’s hope for your children.” God’s Decree.
18-19. “I’ve heard the contrition of Ephraim.Yes, I’ve heard it clearly, saying,‘You trained me well.You broke me, a wild yearling horse, to the saddle.Now put me, trained and obedient, to use.You are my God.After those years of running loose, I repented.After you trained me to obedience,I was ashamed of my past, my wild, unruly past.Humiliated, I beat on my chest.Will I ever live this down?’
20. “Oh! Ephraim is my dear, dear son,my child in whom I take pleasure!Every time I mention his name,my heart bursts with longing for him!Everything in me cries out for him.Softly and tenderly I wait for him.” God’s Decree.
21-22. “Set up signposts to mark your trip home.Get a good map.Study the road conditions.The road out is the road back.Come back, dear virgin Israel,come back to your hometowns.How long will you flit here and there, indecisive?How long before you make up your fickle mind?God will create a new thing in this land:A transformed woman will embrace the transforming God!”
23-24. A Message from Israel’s God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “When I’ve turned everything around and brought my people back, the old expressions will be heard on the streets: ‘God bless you!’ . . . ‘O True Home!’ . . . ‘O Holy Mountain!’ All Judah’s people, whether in town or country, will get along just fine with each other.
25. I’ll refresh tired bodies;I’ll restore tired souls.
26. Just then I woke up and looked around—what a pleasant and satisfying sleep!