1 The lord gave Jeremiah the prophet this message concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.
2 This is what the lord says:“Tell the whole world,and keep nothing back.Raise a signal flagto tell everyone that Babylon will fall!Her images and idols will be shattered.Her gods Bel and Marduk will be utterly disgraced.
3 For a nation will attack her from the northand bring such destruction that no one will live there again.Everything will be gone;both people and animals will flee.
4 “In those coming days,”says the lord,“the people of Israel will return hometogether with the people of Judah.They will come weepingand seeking the lord their God.
5 They will ask the way to Jerusalemand will start back home again.They will bind themselves to the lordwith an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.