Page images
PDF
EPUB

7 For thus hath JEHOVAH said, Shout forth joy unto Jacob,

And congratulate with the chief of the nations;
Publish ye, praise ye, and say,

JEHOVAH hath saved thy people,
The remnant of Israel.

8 Behold I will bring them from the north country, And will gather them from the extremities of the earth:

Among them the blind and the lame,

The woman with child, and she that travaileth together,

A great company shall they return.

9 Behold with weeping shall they come,

10

And amidst supplications will I lead them along;
I will conduct them to streams of water,

In a smooth way, wherein they shall not stumble;
For I have been a father unto Israel,

And Ephraim, he was my first-born.

Hear the word of JEHOVAH, O ye nations,
And report in the distant coasts, and say,

He that scattered Israel will gather him,

And will guard him, as a shepherd doth his flock,

11 For JEHOVAH hath redeemed Jacob,.

And will deliver him out of the hand of him that

is stronger than he.

12 And they shall come, and shall shout in the height of Sion,

And shall flock together for to share in the good

things of JEHOVAH,

For corn, and for new wine, and for oil,

And for the young of the flock, and of the herd;
And their soul shall be as a well-watered garden,
And they shall not pine for hunger any more.

13 Then shall the virgin in the dance rejoice,

[ocr errors]

And the young men and old men together;

For I will change their mourning into joy;

I will also comfort them, and cheer them after their sorrow.

14 And I will satiate the desire of the priests with delicacies,

15'

And my people shall be satisfied with my good things, saith JEHOVAH.

Thus saith JEHOVAH;

A voice hath been heard in Ramah,
A lamentation of most bitter weeping;
Rachel, weeping for her children,

Refuseth to be comforted, because they are not.

16 Thus saith JEHOVAH,

Refrain thy voice from weeping,

And thine eyes from tears;

For thy works shall have a reward, saith JEHOVAH,
And they shall return out of the land of the

enemy:

17 There is also hope in thy latter end, saith JEнO

18

VAH,

And thy children shall return unto their own

border.

I have surely heard Ephraim lamenting himself: Thou hast corrected me, and I was corrected,

like a steer not broken:

Turn thou me, and I shall be turned;

For thou art JEHOVAH my God.

19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented,
And after that I was admonished, I smote upon
my thigh;

I was ashamed, and even covered with confusion,
Because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

20 Is Ephraim a son dear unto me?

Is he a child fondly beloved?

That so soon as ever my word is in him,

I should indeed call him again to my remembrance?

Therefore have my bowels been moved for him, I will surely have mercy upon him, saith JEHOVAH. 21 Set thee up waymarks,

Fix

up

for thyself tall poles,

Set thine heart toward the highway:

By the way thou wentest return, O virgin of Israel,

Return to these thy cities.

22 How long wilt thou turn thyself away, O refractory virgin ?

For JEHOVAH is about to create a new thing in the earth,

A woman shall put to the rout a strong man. 23 Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of Israel ; Again shall they speak this word in the land of

Judah,

And in the cities thereof, when I reverse their captivity,

JEHOVAH shall bless thee, O habitation of righteousness,

O mountain of the most holy One.

24 And Judah shall dwell in it, and all his cities, Husbandmen altogether, and they shall go about with flocks.

25 For I have refreshed the thirsty soul,

And every soul that pined for hunger have I filled.

26 Hereupon I awoke, and saw;

And my sleep was pleasing unto me.

27

BEHOLD the days come, saith JEHOVAH,

That I will sow the house of Israel, and the house. of Judah,

With the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. 28 And it shall be that, as I have watched over them, To pluck up, and to pull down, and to overthrow, And to destroy, and to afflict:

So will I watch over them,

To build, and to plant, saith JEHOVAH. 29 In those days they shall no more say,

The fathers have eaten a sour grape,

And the children's teeth shall be set on edge. 30 But every man shall die for his own iniquity; Every man that hath eaten the sour grape, His teeth shall be set on edge.

31

Behold the days come, saith JEHOVAH,

That I will make with the house of Israel,

And with the house of Judah, a new covenant: 32 Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers,

In the day that I took them by the hand,
To bring them out of the land of Egypt;
Which covenant of mine they violated,

Although I was a husband unto them, saith JEHO

VAH.

33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel;

After those days, saith JEHOVAH, will I put my
law into their inward parts,

And upon their heart will I write it;
And I will be unto them a God,
And they shall be unto me a people.

34 And they shall not teach any more,

Every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,

35

Saying, Know ye JEHOVAH;

For they shall all know me,

From the least of them even unto the greatest of

them, saith JEHOVAH;

For I will pardon their iniquity,

And their sin will I remember no more.

Thus saith JEHOVAH,

Who hath appointed the sun for a light by day, The stated order of the moon and stars for a light by night;

Who agitateth the sea, so that the waves thereof

roar;

JEHOVAH of hosts is his name:

36 If these ordinances shall depart from before me; Then shall the seed of Israel also cease From being a nation before me continually.

37 Thus saith JEHOVAH;

38

If the heavens above can be measured,

Or the foundations of the earth beneath be tra

ced out;

Then will I also reject the whole seed of Israel,
Because of all that they have done, saith JEHOVAH.
Behold, the days come, saith JEHOVAH,

That the city shall be built under the direction
of JEHOVAH,

From the tower of Hananeel unto the corner gate: 39 And a line of the measure shall proceed on straight

forward

Over the hill Gareb, and shall encompass Goatha, 40 And the whole, valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes,

And all the fields unto the brook Kidron,

As far as to the angle of the horse gate eastward :
Sacred to JEHOVAH it shall not be plucked up,
Neither shall it be thrown down any more for ever.

« PreviousContinue »