Jeremiah 31:16-20

New International Version

“Restrain your voice from weeping
    and your eyes from tears,^(A)
for your work will be rewarded,^(B)”
declares the Lord.
    “They will return^(C) from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ So there is hope^(D) for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
    “Your children^(E) will return to their own land.

¹⁸ “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
    ‘You disciplined^(F) me like an unruly calf,^(G)
    and I have been disciplined.
Restore^(H) me, and I will return,
    because you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ After I strayed,^(I)
    I repented;
after I came to understand,
    I beat^(J) my breast.
I was ashamed^(K) and humiliated
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’^(L)
20 Is not Ephraim my dear son,
    the child^(M) in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
    I still remember^(N) him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
    I have great compassion^(O) for him,”
declares the Lord.