²⁷ You will never again return to the land you yearn for.

¹⁴ Of that remnant who fled to Egypt, hoping someday to return to Judah, there will be no survivors. Even though they long to return home, only a handful will do so.”

Hope for Israel’s Royal Line

³¹ In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to^[a] Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year.^{[b] 32} He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. ³³ He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. ³⁴ So the Babylonian king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. This continued until the day of his death.

¹¹ For this is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz,^[a] who succeeded his father, King Josiah, and was taken away as a captive: “He will never return.

Hope for Israel’s Royal Line

²⁷ In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to^[a] Jehoiachin and released him^[b] from prison on April 2 of that year.^{[c] 28} He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. ²⁹ He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. ³⁰ So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived.