Study Desk

"At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the ^(C1)God of all the ^(C2)families of Israel, and they shall be My people."

This is what the LORD says: "The people who survived the sword ^(C1)Found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when it went to ^(C2)find its rest."

The LORD appeared to ^(F1)him ^(F2)long ago, saying, "I have ^(C1)loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you out with ^(C2)kindness.

-"^(C1)I will build you again and you will be rebuilt, Virgin of Israel! You will ^(F1)take up your ^(C2)tambourines again, And go out to the dances of the ^(C3)revelers.

-"Again you will ^(C1)plant vineyards On the ^(F1)hills of Samaria; The planters will plant And will ^(F2)enjoy the fruit.

-"For there will be a day when watchmen On the hills of Ephraim call out, 'Arise, and ^(C1)let's go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.'"

For this is what the LORD says: "^(C1)Sing aloud with joy for Jacob, And be joyful with the ^(F1)(C2)chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, 'LORD, ^(C3)save Your people, The ^(C4)remnant of Israel!'

-"Behold, I am ^(C1)bringing them from the north country, And I will ^(C2)gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them those who are ^(C3)blind and those who ^(C4)limp, The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; They will return here as a great assembly.

-"^(C1)They will come with weeping, And by pleading I will bring them; I will lead them by ^(C2)streams of waters, On a straight path on which they will ^(C3)not stumble; For I am a ^(C4)father to Israel, And Ephraim is ^(C5)My firstborn."

Hear the word of the LORD, you nations, And declare it in the ^(C1)coastlands far away, And say, "He who scattered Israel will ^(C2)gather him, And He will keep him as a ^(C3)shepherd keeps his flock."

For the LORD has ^(C1)ransomed Jacob And redeemed him from the hand of him who was ^(C2)stronger than he.

"They will ^(C1)come and shout for joy on the ^(C2)height of Zion, And they will be ^(C3)radiant over the ^(F1)bounty of the LORD— Over the ^(C4)grain, the new wine, the oil, And over the young of the ^(C5)flock and the herd. And their life will be like a ^(C6)watered garden, And they will ^(C7)never languish again.

-"Then the virgin will rejoice in the ^(C1)dance, And the young men and the old together; For I will ^(C2)turn their mourning into joy And comfort them, and give them ^(C3)joy for their sorrow.

-"I will refresh the soul of the priests with ^(F1)abundance, And My people will be ^(C1)satisfied with My goodness," declares the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)A voice is heard in ^(C2)Ramah, Lamenting and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She ^(C3)refuses to be comforted for her children, Because ^(C4)they are no more."

This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your ^(C2)work will be rewarded," declares the LORD, "And they will ^(C3)return from the land of the enemy.

-"There is ^(C1)hope for your future," declares the LORD, "And your children will return to their own territory.

-"I have certainly heard Ephraim ^(C1)grieving, 'You have ^(C2)disciplined me, and I was corrected, Like an untrained ^(C3)calf; ^(C4)Bring me back that I may be restored, For You are the LORD my God.

-'For after I turned back, I ^(C1)repented; And after I was instructed, I ^(F1)(C2)slapped my thigh; I was ^(C3)ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the shame of my youth.'

-"Is ^(C1)Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My ^(F1)(C2)heart yearns for him; I will certainly ^(C3)have mercy on him," declares the LORD.

"Set up roadmarks for yourself, Place guideposts for yourself; ^(C1)Direct your ^(F1)mind to the highway, The way by which you went. ^(C2)Return, O virgin of Israel, Return to these your cities.

-"How long will you waver, You ^(C1)rebellious daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: A woman will shelter a man."

This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: "Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I ^(C1)restore their fortunes, 'The LORD bless you, O ^(C2)place of righteousness, O ^(C3)holy hill!'

"Judah and all its cities will ^(C1)live together in it, the farmers and those who travel with flocks.

"^(C1)For I give plenty of water to the weary ones, and ^(F1)refresh everyone who languishes."

At this I ^(C1)awoke and looked, and my ^(C2)sleep had been pleasant to me.

"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will ^(C1)sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals.

"And just as I have ^(C1)watched over them to ^(C2)uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to ^(C3)build and to plant them," declares the LORD.

"In those days they will no longer say, '^(C1)The fathers have eaten sour grapes, ^(F1)But it is the children's teeth that have become blunt.'

"But ^(C1)everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.

"^(C1)Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a ^(C2)new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

not like the ^(C1)covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I ^(C2)took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ^(C3)covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.

"For ^(C1)this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD: "^(C2)I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and ^(C3)I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

"They will ^(C1)not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all ^(C2)know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will ^(C3)forgive their wrongdoing, and their ^(C4)sin I will no longer remember."

This is what the LORD says, He who ^(C1)gives the sun for light by day And the ^(F1)fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who ^(C2)stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— ^(C3)The LORD of armies is His name:

"^(C1)If ^(F1)this fixed order departs From Me," declares the LORD, "Then the descendants of Israel also will ^(C2)cease To be a nation before Me ^(F2)forever."

This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also ^(C2)reject all the descendants of Israel For everything that they have done," declares the LORD.

"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the ^(C1)city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the ^(C2)Tower of Hananel to the ^(C3)Corner Gate.

"The ^(C1)measuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.

"And ^(C1)the entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook ^(C2)Kidron to the corner of the ^(C3)Horse Gate toward the east, shall be ^(C4)holy to the LORD; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again."