Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great {shall be} the day of Jezreel.

And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. {corners: Heb. wings}

For the day of vengeance {is} in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make {him} afraid.

For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, {who were} ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and {for} all the house of Israel his companions:

And the inhabitants of one {city} shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. {speedily: or, continually: Heb. going} {to pray...: Heb. to intreat the face of}

And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit {it}; neither shall {that} be done any more. {come to mind: Heb. come upon the heart} {that...: or, it be magnified}

I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. {do...: Heb. visit upon}

They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim {is} my firstborn. {supplications: or, favours}

Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye {even} to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for {his} only {son}, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for {his} firstborn.

Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

For there shall be a day, {that} the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah {were} oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.

In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and {your} joy to heaviness.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare {that} I will render double unto thee;

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Blessed {is} the man whose strength {is} in thee; in whose heart {are} the ways {of them}.

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves {with him}. {precious...: or, seed basket}

For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.

For there shall be a day, {that} the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.

And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it {shall be} for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err {therein}. {but...: or, for he shall be with them}

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

[A Song of degrees of David.] I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.

And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. {with: or, to} {given...: or, caused your fathers to possess}

They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim {is} my firstborn. {supplications: or, favours}

In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and {there shall be} none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.

Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great {shall be} the day of Jezreel.

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for {his} only {son}, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for {his} firstborn.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for {it is} time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself {thus}; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed {to the yoke}: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou {art} the LORD my God.

Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet {for} this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do {it} for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn {yourselves} from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. {yourselves: or, others}

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. {weeping...: Heb. in going and weeping}

And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Sorrow {is} better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. {Sorrow: or, Anger}

For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.

For Israel {hath} not {been} forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find {them}: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then {was it} better with me than now.

O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! {inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress}

A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping {and} supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, {and} they have forgotten the LORD their God.

They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck {of} the abundance of the seas, and {of} treasures hid in the sand.

But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.

And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.