Jeremiah 31:18-20

18‘I have heard Israel's people when they are sad. They say to me, “You punished us, and we accepted it. You taught us to obey you, like a farmer teaches an ox to work for him. So let us come back to serve you. We are ready to return to you, because you are the Lord, our God.

19After we turned away from you, we were sorry that we had done that. We understood what we had done, and we showed that we were sad. We were ashamed and upset, because of the disgusting things that we did when we were young.”

20But Israel's people are my own dear children. I still love them, even when I have to speak against them. I can never forget them. I only want to help them. I will certainly be kind to them.’ That is what the Lord says.