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18 The people of Israel[a] moan
    and say to me,
“We were like wild bulls,
but you, Lord, broke us,
    and we learned to obey.
You are our God—
    please let us come home.
19 When we were young,
    we strayed and sinned,
but then we realized
    what we had done.
We are ashamed and disgraced
    and want to return to you.”

20 People of Israel,
you are my own dear children.
    Don't I love you best of all?
Though I often make threats,
I want you to be near me,
    so I will have mercy on you.
I, the Lord, have spoken.

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Footnotes

  1. 31.18 Israel: Hebrew “Ephraim” (see the note at 31.9).

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
    ‘You disciplined(A) me like an unruly calf,(B)
    and I have been disciplined.
Restore(C) me, and I will return,
    because you are the Lord my God.
19 After I strayed,(D)
    I repented;
after I came to understand,
    I beat(E) my breast.
I was ashamed(F) and humiliated
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’(G)
20 Is not Ephraim my dear son,
    the child(H) in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
    I still remember(I) him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
    I have great compassion(J) for him,”
declares the Lord.

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