Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 276
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IMMERSE
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PROPHETS
31:17-28
for I will reward you,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come back to you
from the distant land of the enemy.
There is hope for your future,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come again to their own land.
I have heard Israel saying,
‘You disciplined me severely,
like a calf that needs training for the yoke.
Turn me again to you and restore me,
for you alone are the Lord my God.
I turned away from God,
but then I was sorry.
I kicked myself for my stupidity!
I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my
younger days.’
“Is not Israel still my son,
my darling child?” says the Lord.
“I often have to punish him,
but I still love him.
That’s why I long for him
and surely will have mercy on him.
Set up road signs;
put up guideposts.
Mark well the path
by which you came.
Come back again, my virgin Israel;
return to your towns here.
How long will you wander,
my wayward daughter?
For the Lord will cause something new to
happen—
Israel will embrace her God.”
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:
“When I bring them back from captivity, the people of Judah and its towns
will again say, ‘The Lord bless you, O righteous home, O holy mountain!’
Townspeople and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace
and happiness. For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.”
At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very sweet.
“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will greatly increase the
human population and the number of animals here in Israel and Judah. In
