7. For thus says the Lord: "Exult in the joy of Jacob, and neigh before the head of the Gentiles. Shout, and sing, and say: 'O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel!'
8. Behold, I will lead them from the land of the north, and I will gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, she who is with child, together with she who is giving birth: a great assembly returning to this place.
9. They will approach with weeping. And I will lead them back with mercy. And I will lead them through the torrents of water, by an upright way, and they will not stumble in it. For I have become Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."
10. Listen to the word of the Lord, O Gentiles, and announce it amid the islands that are far away, and say: "Whoever has scattered Israel will gather him, and he will guard him as a shepherd guards his flock."
11. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and he has freed him from the hand of one more powerful.
12. And they will arrive and give praise on Mount Zion. And they will flow together, to the good things of the Lord, over grain, and wine, and oil, and the offspring of cattle and herds. And their soul will be like an irrigated garden, and they will no longer be hungry.
13. Then the virgin will rejoice with singing, the young and the old together, and I will turn their mourning into gladness, and I will console them and gladden them after their sorrow.
14. And I will inebriate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be filled with my good things, says the Lord."
15. Thus says the Lord: "A voice has been heard on high: of lamentation, mourning, and weeping; of Rachel crying for her sons and refusing to be consoled over them, because they are not."
16. Thus says the Lord: "Let your voice cease from crying and your eyes from tears. For there is a reward for your work, says the Lord. And they will return from the land of the enemy.
17. And there is hope for your very end, says the Lord. And the sons will return to their own borders.
18. Listening, I heard Ephraim going into captivity: 'You have chastised me, and I was instructed, like a young untamed bull. Convert me, and I shall be converted. For you are the Lord my God.
19. For after you converted me, I did penance. And after you revealed to me, I struck my thigh. I am confounded and ashamed. For I have endured the disgrace of my youth.'
20. Certainly, Ephraim is an honorable son to me; surely, he is a tender child. For I will still remember him, as in the time when I first spoke about him. Because my heart is stirred up over him, surely I will take pity on him, says the Lord.
21. Establish a watchtower for yourself. Place yourself in bitterness. Direct your heart into the upright way, in which you used to walk. Return, return, O virgin of Israel, to these your cities!
22. How long will you be absorbed in delights, O wandering daughter? For the Lord has created something new upon the earth: a woman will encompass a man."