The Lord God says— he who gathers the Israelites that were forced to leave their country: “I will bring together other people to join those who are already gathered.”
Kings will come from Judah’s family; someone from Judah will always be on the throne. Judah will rule until Shiloh comes, and the nations will obey him.
I will tell the north: Give my people to me. I will tell the south: Don’t keep my people in prison. Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from faraway places.
This is what the Lord God says: “See, I will lift my hand to signal the nations; I will raise my banner for all the people to see. Then they will bring your sons back to you in their arms, and they will carry your daughters on their shoulders.
Now he told me, “You are an important servant to me to bring back the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the people of Israel who are left alive. But, more importantly, I will make you a light for all nations to show people all over the world the way to be saved.”
I will bring back your health and heal your injuries,” says the Lord, “because other people forced you away. They said about you, ‘No one cares about Jerusalem!’ ”
“Nations, listen to the message from the Lord. Tell this message in the faraway lands by the sea: ‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will bring them back, and he will watch over his people like a shepherd.’
As a shepherd takes care of his scattered flock when it is found, I will take care of my sheep. I will save them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.
The people of Judah and Israel will join together again and will choose one leader for themselves. They will come up from the land, because the day of Jezreel will be truly great.
Some people said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live and teach the Greek people there?