¹⁶ Thus says the Lord to her:
    Cease your cries of lamentation
    and wipe the tears from your eyes.
For your labors will be rewarded, says the Lord,
    and your children will return from the land of mercy.
¹⁷ Thus there is hope for your future, says the Lord;
    your children will return to their homeland.
¹⁸ I have indeed heard Ephraim pleading,
    “You chastised me, and I accepted your discipline,
    I was like an untamed calf.
Bring me back! Allow me to return,
    for you are the Lord, my God.