Jeremiah 31:18-20

The Voice

¹⁸     I have heard the cries of Ephraim, groaning, “You have disciplined me.
        I was like an unruly calf, but You disciplined me.
    Bring me back, so I can return home,
        for You are my God, the Eternal.
¹⁹     After I had turned away from You, I repented.
        I turned back toward You when I understood what I had done;
    I slapped my thigh in shame and regret
        for the disgraceful things I did when I was young.”
²⁰     So I, the Eternal One, asked:
        “Is this not Ephraim, My beloved son, My darling child?
    As often as I speak against him, I have never forgotten him.
        Even now, My heart longs for him;
    I will surely show him mercy!”