17. There’s hope for your future,declares the Lord.Your children will return home!
18. I hear, yes, I hear Ephraim lamenting:"You disciplined me,and I learned my lesson,even though I was as stubborn as a mule.Bring me back, let me return,because you are the Lord my God.
19. After I turned away from you,I regretted it;I realized what I had done,and I have hit myself—I was humiliated and disgraced,and I have carried this disgracesince I was young."
20. Isn’t Ephraim my much-loved child?Don’t I utterly adore him?Even when I scold him,I still hold him dear.I yearn for him and love him deeply,declares the Lord.
21. Set up markers,put up signs;think about the road you have traveled,the path you have taken.Return, virgin Israel;return to these towns of yours.