Sharper Iron — A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build: From Mourning to Joy

² Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
³     the Lord appeared to him^[a] from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
⁴ Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
⁵ Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.
⁶ For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
    in the hill country of Ephraim:
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷ For thus says the Lord:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ‘O Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ Behold, I will bring them from the north country
    and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
⁹ With weeping they shall come,
    and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
    in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
    and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
    and they shall languish no more.
¹³ Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴ I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    because they are no more.”

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
    and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the Lord,
    and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.
¹⁸ I have heard Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ For after I had turned away, I relented,
    and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
²⁰ Is Ephraim my dear son?
    Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I do remember him still.
Therefore my heart^[b] yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.

²¹ “Set up road markers for yourself;
    make yourself guideposts;
consider well the highway,
    the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
    return to these your cities.
²² How long will you waver,
    O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
    a woman encircles a man.”

“‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of righteousness,
    O holy hill!’