4 We should celebrate, because we are the people of Israel, the only ones who know what pleases God.
5 Be brave, my people. Keep Israel's name alive!
6 You were not sold to enemy nations to be destroyed. Instead, those nations dragged you away as captives because you did things that God hated.
7 God is your Creator, yet you made him angry by offering sacrifices to demons instead of to him.
8 You rejected the eternal God who gave you life. And you caused much sadness for Jerusalem, the city that was a mother to you.
9 When she saw God punish you in anger, she said:Listen to me, you nearby towns. God has made me very sad,
10 because I have watched my children Israel being dragged away to foreign nations. The eternal God has done this to punish them!