2-6. This is the way God put it:“They found grace out in the desert,these people who survived the killing.Israel, out looking for a place to rest,met God out looking for them!”God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.Expect love, love, and more love!And so now I’ll start over with you and build you up again,dear virgin Israel.You’ll resume your singing,grabbing tambourines and joining the dance.You’ll go back to your old work of planting vineyardson the Samaritan hillsides,And sit back and enjoy the fruit—oh, how you’ll enjoy those harvests!The time’s coming when watchmen will call outfrom the hilltops of Ephraim:‘On your feet! Let’s go to Zion,go to meet our God!’”
20. “Oh! Ephraim is my dear, dear son,my child in whom I take pleasure!Every time I mention his name,my heart bursts with longing for him!Everything in me cries out for him.Softly and tenderly I wait for him.” God’s Decree.
21-22. “Set up signposts to mark your trip home.Get a good map.Study the road conditions.The road out is the road back.Come back, dear virgin Israel,come back to your hometowns.How long will you flit here and there, indecisive?How long before you make up your fickle mind?God will create a new thing in this land:A transformed woman will embrace the transforming God!”