⁴ In those days, and at that time,”
    declares the Lord,
“the people of Israel will come together
    with the people of Judah.
They’ll be weeping as they travel along,
    and they’ll be seeking the Lord their God.
⁵ They’ll ask the way to Zion,
    turning their faces in that direction.
They’ll come^[a] and join themselves to the Lord
    in an everlasting covenant that won’t be forgotten.
⁶ My people have become lost sheep.
    Their shepherds have led them astray,
        turning them toward the mountains.
They go from mountain to hill.
    They have forgotten their resting place.
⁷ All who find them devour them,
    but their enemies say, ‘We’re not guilty,
because they have sinned against
    the Lord, the habitation of righteousness,
        the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.’
⁸ Move away from the middle of Babylon,
    and go out of the land of the Chaldeans.
        Be like male goats at the head^[b] of the flock.
⁹ Indeed, I’m going to stir up
    and bring against Babylon
a great company of nations
    from the land of the north.
They’ll deploy for battle against her,
    and from there she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like a skilled warrior;
    they won’t miss their targets.^[c]
10 The Chaldeans will become plunder,
    and all who plunder them will get more than enough,”
        declares the Lord.