¹¹ The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous^(A) than unfaithful^(B) Judah.^{(C) 12} Go, proclaim this message toward the north:^(D)

¹⁴ “Return,^(M) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.^(N) I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ Then I will give you shepherds^(O) after my own heart,^(P) who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶ In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark^(Q) of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;^(R) it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. ¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne^(S) of the Lord, and all nations^(T) will gather in Jerusalem to honor^(U) the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^{(V) 18} In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,^(W) and together^(X) they will come from a northern^(Y) land to the land^(Z) I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.