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.
6 “My people have been lost sheep.Their shepherds have led them astrayand turned them loose in the mountains.They have lost their wayand can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.
7 All who found them devoured them.Their enemies said,‘We did nothing wrong in attacking them,for they sinned against the lord,their true place of rest,and the hope of their ancestors.’
8 “But now, flee from Babylon!Leave the land of the Babylonians.Like male goats at the head of the flock,lead my people home again.
9 For I am raising up an armyof great nations from the north.They will join forces to attack Babylon,and she will be captured.The enemies’ arrows will go straight to the mark;they will not miss!
10 Babylonia will be looteduntil the attackers are glutted with loot.I, the lord, have spoken!