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Israel Will Return to Its Own Land

The Lord says:

Celebrate and sing for Israel,
    the greatest of nations.
Offer praises and shout,
    “Come and rescue
    your people, Lord!
Save what's left of Israel.”

I, the Lord, will bring
my people back from Babylonia[a]
    and everywhere else on earth.
The blind and the lame
    will be there.
Expectant mothers
    and women about to give birth
will come and be part
    of that great crowd.
They will weep and pray
    as I bring them home.
I will lead them
    to streams of water.
They will walk on a level[b] road
    and not stumble.
I am a father to Israel,[c]
    my favorite children.

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Footnotes

  1. 31.8 Babylonia: The Hebrew text has “that country in the north,” referring to Babylonia.
  2. 31.9 level: Or “straight.”
  3. 31.9 Israel: The Hebrew text also has “Ephraim,” the leading tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel, which sometimes stands for the whole northern kingdom.

This is what the Lord says:

“Sing(A) with joy for Jacob;
    shout for the foremost(B) of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
    Lord, save(C) your people,
    the remnant(D) of Israel.’
See, I will bring them from the land of the north(E)
    and gather(F) them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind(G) and the lame,(H)
    expectant mothers and women in labor;
    a great throng will return.
They will come with weeping;(I)
    they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead(J) them beside streams of water(K)
    on a level(L) path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,(M)
    and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

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