Complain no more about your injuries; there is no cure for you. I punished you like this because your sins are many and your wickedness is great.

I will make you well again; I will heal your wounds, though your enemies say, 'Zion is an outcast; no one cares about her.' I, the LORD, have spoken."

My people will return weeping, praying as I lead them back. I will guide them to streams of water, on a smooth road where they will not stumble. I am like a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my oldest son."

"I hear the people of Israel say in grief, ' LORD, we were like an untamed animal, but you taught us to obey. Bring us back; we are ready to return to you, the LORD our God.

"Israel, you are my dearest child, the one I love best. Whenever I mention your name, I think of you with love. My heart goes out to you; I will be merciful.

The LORD says, "When that time comes, the people of both Israel and Judah will come weeping, looking for me, their God.

They will ask the way to Zion and then go in that direction. They will make an eternal covenant with me and never break it.

The people of Dibon climb the hill to weep at the shrine. The people of Moab wail in grief over the cities of Nebo and Medeba; they have shaved their heads and their beards in grief.

Some will escape to the mountains like doves frightened from the valleys. All of them will moan over their sins.

"I will fill the descendants of David and the other people of Jerusalem with the spirit of mercy and the spirit of prayer. They will look at the one whom they stabbed to death, and they will mourn for him like those who mourn for an only child. They will mourn bitterly, like those who have lost their first-born son.

Each family in the land will mourn by itself: the family descended from David, the family descended from Nathan, the family descended from Levi, the family descended from Shimei, and all the other families. Each family will mourn by itself, and the men of each family will mourn separately from the women.

(SEE 12:12)

For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation---and there is no regret in that! But sadness that is merely human causes death.

The angel demanded, "Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey.

Each one will say in public, "I have sinned. I have not done right, but God spared me.

Honest people are safe and secure, but the dishonest will be caught.

Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the LORD.

Listen to me, you rulers of Israel, you that hate justice and turn right into wrong.

Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can be counted.

Israel, you have forgotten the God who rescues you and protects you like a mighty rock. Instead, you plant sacred gardens in order to worship a foreign god.

Now this is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: "Because you forgot me and turned your back on me, you will suffer for your lust and your prostitution."

"The people of Israel have built palaces, but they have forgotten their own Maker. The people of Judah have built fortified cities. But I will send fire that will burn down their palaces and their cities."

But when you entered the good land, you became full and satisfied, and then you grew proud and forgot me.