Summary: The LORD promises to bring back the remnant of Israel from the north, comforting and guiding them as a father, ensuring a safe return for all, including the vulnerable.
Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise and say: The LORD has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng.
They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble.
For I am a father to Israel, Ephraim is my first-born.