‘Listen! Listen! Flee from the land of the north’ #– #this is the Lord’s declaration #– #‘for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven’ #– #this is the Lord’s declaration.
All the fugitives among his troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every direction of the wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.
Leave Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with a shout of joy, proclaim this, let it go out to the end of the earth; announce, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob! ’
‘Therefore say, “This is what the Lord God says: Though I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”
Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.
As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them said, ‘Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away! ’
for I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
A third of your people will die by plague and be consumed by famine within you; a third will fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter a third to every direction of the wind, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.
Leave Babylon; save your lives, each of you! Don’t perish because of her guilt. For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance – he will pay her what she deserves.
Nations, hear the word of the Lord, and tell it among the far off coasts and islands! Say, ‘The one who scattered Israel will gather him. He will watch over him as a shepherd guards his flock,
Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land. I will gather them from remote regions of the earth – the blind and the lame will be with them, along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth. They will return here as a great assembly!
In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your ancestors to inherit.” ’
‘Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the water; and you without silver, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without cost!
Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, ‘Come over here and sit down.’ So he went over and sat down.
As a result, fathers will eat their sons within Jerusalem, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgements against you and scatter all your survivors to every direction of the wind.
But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and divided to the four winds of heaven, but not to his descendants; it will not be the same kingdom that he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and will go to others besides them.
Therefore, this is what the Lord says: In mercy, I have returned to Jerusalem; my house will be rebuilt within it #– #this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies #– #and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.