“We have heard cries of fear,
of terror, and not of peace.”
⁶ Ask and see.
Can a man give birth to a child?
Why then do I see every strong man
    with his hands on his belly like a woman in labor?
Why has every face turned pale?
⁷ That day is so terrible that there is none like it!
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be saved out of it.

⁸ In that day, declares the Lord of Armies,
I will break the yoke off your neck.
I will tear away your bonds.
Strangers will no longer enslave Israel,
⁹ but they will serve the Lord their God
and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
¹⁰ Therefore do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, declares the Lord.
Do not be terrified, Israel,
because I will certainly save you from a faraway place.
I will save your descendants from the land where they are captive.
Jacob will return.
He will enjoy quiet and be at ease,
and no one will make him afraid.
¹¹ I am with you to save you, declares the Lord.
I will completely destroy all the nations
    among which I have scattered you,
but I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you with justice, ^[1]
yet I will not regard you as entirely innocent.

¹² So this is what the Lord says.
Your wound is incurable.
Your injury is severe.
¹³ There is no one to plead your cause,
no one to bind your wounds.
There are no healing medicines.
¹⁴ All who loved you have forgotten you.
They do not ask about you.
I have wounded you as an enemy would.
I have punished you as the cruel would,
because your guilt is so great,
because your sins are so many.

¹⁵ Why are you crying over your injury,
over your incurable wound?
It is because of your great guilt,
because of your many sins,
that I have done these things to you.
¹⁶ Yet all who devour you will be devoured.
All your enemies, every one of them, will go into captivity.
Those who plunder you will be plundered.
All who prey on you will become prey.
¹⁷ For I will restore your health,
and I will heal your wounds, declares the Lord,
because they have called you an outcast,
saying, “It is Zion—for whom no one cares.”

¹⁸ This is what the Lord says.
Look, I will end the captivity ^[2] of Jacob’s tents
and have compassion on his dwellings.
The city will be rebuilt on the mound of its ruins,
and the citadel will stand in its rightful place.
¹⁹ Thanksgiving will come out of them,
    along with the sound of rejoicing.
I will multiply them,
and they will not decrease in number.
I will glorify them,
and they will not be insignificant.
²⁰ Their children will be as they were long ago,
and their community will be established in my presence.
I will punish all who oppress them.
²¹ Their strong leader will be one of their own,
and their ruler will arise from among them.
I will summon him to come near,
and he will approach me,
for who would be bold enough to approach me?
says the Lord.
²² You shall be my people,
and I will be your God.
²³ Look, a storm is coming from the Lord!
His wrath has gone out,
like a whirlwind twisting down,
whirling over the heads of the wicked.
²⁴ The Lord’s anger will not turn back
until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart.
In later days you will understand it.

I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they will be my people.

² This is what the Lord says.
The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness.
Israel had continual rest.

³ The Lord appeared to me ^[3] from a distance, saying:
I have loved you with an everlasting love.
I have drawn you with mercy.
⁴ I will build you up again,
and you will be built up, O Virgin Israel.
You will pick up your drums again,
and you will go out to dance with those who are joyful.
⁵ Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria.
The planters will plant and will enjoy its fruit.
⁶ For there will be a day
when the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry out,
“Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.”
⁷ This is what the Lord says.
Sing with joy for Jacob,
and shout for the greatest of the nations.
Make your praises heard and say,
“Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel!”
⁸ Watch, I will bring them from a land in the north
and gather them from the ends of the earth.
The blind and the lame will be there,
the pregnant woman together with the woman in labor.
They will return as a huge community.
⁹ They will come weeping.
They will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water,
on a level path where they will not stumble.
For I am a father to Israel.
Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, you nations.
Declare it in the distant islands.
Say that he who scattered Israel will gather him
and watch over him like a shepherd watching his flock.
¹¹ For the Lord will ransom Jacob
and redeem him from the hand of the one who is stronger than him.
¹² They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion,
and they will rejoice in the goodness of the Lord,
for the grain, the new wine, the oil,
and the young of the flocks and herds.
Their lives will thrive like a well-watered garden.
They will not grow weak anymore.
¹³ Then the virgin will rejoice and dance.
The young men and the old will be glad together,
for I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will comfort them
and give them joy instead of sorrow.
¹⁴ I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
and my people will be filled with my goodness,
declares the Lord.

¹⁵ This is what the Lord says.
A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning.
Rachel is weeping for her children.
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says.
Stop your crying.
Do not shed tears,
because your work will be rewarded, declares the Lord.
They will return from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ There is hope for your future, declares the Lord.
Your children will return to their own borders.

²¹ Set up road signs.
Make guideposts.
Direct your attention toward the highway,
toward the way by which you came.
Turn back, Virgin Israel.
Turn back to your cities.
²² How long will you turn away,
you unfaithful daughter?
The Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
A female will surround a man. ^[4]

²⁶ Just after this I woke up and looked around.
My sleep had been pleasant for me.