The Joyful Return of the Exiles

31At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
²Thus says the Lord:
The people who survived the sword
   found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
³   the Lord appeared to him^* from far away.^*
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
   therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
⁴Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
   O virgin Israel!
Again you shall take^* your tambourines,
   and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
⁵Again you shall plant vineyards
   on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant,
   and shall enjoy the fruit.
⁶For there shall be a day when sentinels will call
   in the hill country of Ephraim:
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
   to the Lord our God.’