People of Israel, leave Babylon! Hurry up and get away from the Babylonians! Here is what I want you to announce. Make it known with shouts of joy. Send the news out from one end of the earth to the other. Say, “The Lord has set free his servant Jacob.”
Listen to those who have escaped. Listen to those who have returned from Babylon. They are announcing in Zion how I have paid Babylon back. I have paid it back for destroying my temple.
“People of Judah, run away from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of the sins of its people. It is time for me to pay them back. I will punish them for what they have done.
“The nations say, ‘We would have healed Babylon. But it can’t be healed. So let’s leave it. Let’s each go to our own land. Babylon’s sins reach all the way to the skies. They rise up as high as the heavens.’
Moses warned the community. He said, “Move away from the tents of these evil men! Don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, the Lord will sweep you away because of all their sins.”
So, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch anything that is not pure and ‘clean.’ Then I will receive you.” (Isaiah 52:11; Ezekiel 20:34,41)
Then I heard another voice from heaven. It said, “ ‘Come out of her, my people.’ (Jeremiah 51:45) Then you will not take part in her sins. You will not suffer from any of her plagues.