1 The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Kasdim, by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 “Declare among the nations and publish,and set up a standard;publish, and don’t conceal:say, ‘Babylon has been taken,Bel is disappointed,Merodach is dismayed!Her images are disappointed.Her idols are dismayed.’
3 For a nation comes up out of the north against her,which will make her land desolate,and no one will dwell in it.They have fled.They are gone,both man and animal.
4 “In those days, and in that time,” says the Lord,“the children of Israel will come,they and the children of Judah together;they will go on their way weeping,and will seek the Lord their God.
5 They will inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it,saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenantthat will not be forgotten.’
6 My people have been lost sheep.Their shepherds have caused them to go astray.They have turned them away on the mountains.They have gone from mountain to hill.They have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who found them have devoured them.Their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty,because they have sinned against the Lord,the habitation of righteousness,even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’