“You nations, listen to the Lord’s word. Tell it to the distant islands. Say, ‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd watches over his flock.’
On that day the Lord will begin his threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt. People of Israel, you will be gathered one by one.
Sing a new song to the Lord. Sing his praise from the ends of the earth, you people who sail on the seas and all the creatures that live in them, you coastlands and all who live on them.
Leave Babylon; flee from the Babylonians! Shout for joy as you tell it and announce it. Shout it out to the ends of the earth. Say that the Lord has reclaimed his servant Jacob.
Certainly, the coastlands wait with hope for me. The ships from Tarshish are the first to bring your children from far away. Their silver and their gold comes with them to honor the name of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has honored you.
I will set up a sign among them and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal, Javan, and to the distant coastlands who have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will tell about my glory among the nations.
I will put shepherds over them. Those shepherds will take care of them. My sheep will no longer be afraid or terrified, and not one of them will be missing,” declares the Lord.
“The people of Israel are like scattered sheep that lions have chased. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria. The last to gnaw at their bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
I will bring the people of Israel back to their pastures. They will eat on Mount Carmel and Mount Bashan. They will eat until they are full on the mountains of Ephraim and Gilead.
“So tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, I have been their sanctuary for a little while among the countries where they’ve gone.’
I will bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where I have scattered you with my mighty hand and powerful arm. I will pour out my fury.
As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so I will look after my sheep. I will rescue them on a cloudy and gloomy day from every place where they have been scattered.
When the blockade is over, burn one-third of your hair in a fire in the middle of the city. Take another third, and cut it up with a blade around the city. Then scatter the remaining third to the wind, and I will draw a sword and go after it.
Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and capture many of them. But a commander will silence the insults that the northern king makes and even insult him.
I will surely gather all of you, Jacob. I will surely bring together the few people left in Israel. I will gather them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture. They will make a lot of noise because there will be so many people.
“When that day comes,” declares the Lord, “I will gather those who are lame. I will bring together those who are scattered and those whom I have injured.
The child will become the shepherd of his flock. ⌞He will lead them⌟ with the strength of the Lord, with the majestic name of the Lord his God. They will live in safety because his greatness will reach the ends of the earth.
At that time I will deal with all who have overpowered you. I will rescue those who are lame. I will gather those who have been scattered. I will make them praised and famous in all the world, though they had been ashamed.