Only acknowledge your wrongdoing, That you have revolted against the Lord your God, And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every leafy tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.

For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the Lord. Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered.

Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not been concerned about them; behold, I am going to call you to account for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord.

For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you; For I will completely destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will discipline you fairly And will by no means leave you unpunished.’

Hear the word of the Lord, you nations, And declare it in the coastlands far away, And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, And He will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

Then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been scattered and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?”

Instead, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been scattered, in order to reside in the land of Judah—

“Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has gnawed his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the desert plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.