3 For a nation from the north will attack Babylon.It will lay her land waste.People and animals will flee out of it.No one will inhabit it.’
4 “When that time comes,” says the Lord,“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.They will come back with tears of repentanceas they seek the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way to Zion;they will turn their faces toward it.They will come and bind themselves to the Lordin a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
6 “My people have been lost sheep.Their shepherds have allow them to go astray.They have wandered around in the mountains.They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another.They have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who encountered them devoured them.Their enemies who did this said, ‘We are not liable for punishment!For those people have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture.They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors trusted.’
8 “People of Judah, get out of Babylon quickly!Leave the land of Babylonia!Be the first to depart!Be like the male goats that lead the herd.
9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylona host of mighty nations from the land of the north.They will set up their battle lines against her.They will come from the north and capture her.Their arrows will be like a skilled soldierwho does not return from the battle empty-handed.