¹¹ This whole country will become a desolate wasteland,^(A) and these nations will serve^(B) the king of Babylon seventy years.^(C)

¹² “But when the seventy years^(D) are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon^(E) and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,^[a] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate^(F) forever.

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long^(A) will you withhold mercy^(B) from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah,^(C) which you have been angry with these seventy^(D) years?” ¹³ So the Lord spoke^(E) kind and comforting words^(F) to the angel who talked with me.^(G)

¹⁴ Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous^(H) for Jerusalem and Zion, ¹⁵ and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure.^(I) I was only a little angry,^(J) but they went too far with the punishment.’^(K)

¹⁶ “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return^(L) to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line^(M) will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.^(N)