15. The Lord says,“A sound is heard in Ramah,the sound of bitter weeping.Rachel is crying for her children;they are gone,and she refuses to be comforted.
16. Stop your cryingand wipe away your tears.All that you have done for your childrenwill not go unrewarded;they will return from the enemy's land.
17. There is hope for your future;your children will come back home.I, the Lord, have spoken.
18. “I hear the people of Israel say in grief,‘Lord, we were like an untamed animal,but you taught us to obey.Bring us back;we are ready to return to you,the Lord our God.
19. We turned away from you,but soon we wanted to return.After you had punished us,we hung our heads in grief.We were ashamed and disgraced,because we sinned when we were young.’
20. “Israel, you are my dearest son,the child I love best.Whenever I mention your name,I think of you with love.My heart goes out to you;I will be merciful.
21. Set up signs and mark the road;find again the way by which you left.Come back, people of Israel,come home to the towns you left.
22. How long will you hesitate, faithless people?I have created something new and different,as different as a woman protecting a man.”
23. The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, “When I restore the people to their land, they will once again say in the land of Judah and in its towns,‘May the Lord bless the sacred hill of Jerusalem,the holy place where he lives.’
24. People will live in Judah and in all its towns, and there will be farmers, and shepherds with their flocks.