The Exiles Are Called Home

⁶ The Lord says, “Come away! Flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds.

²¹ And all his best warriors^[a] will be killed in battle, and those who survive will be scattered to the four winds. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.

⁴ Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,

¹⁶ “Therefore, tell the exiles, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile.

⁶⁴ For the Lord will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship foreign gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone!

¹⁷ When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

¹⁶ And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:

⁷ Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon!”