16. Thus says the Lord:“Refrain your voice from weeping,And your eyes from tears;For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17. There is hope in your future, says the Lord,That your children shall come back to their own border.
18. “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,Like an untrained bull;Restore me, and I will return,For You are the Lord my God.
19. Surely, after my turning, I repented;And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated,Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’