10. “You will tell the people of Judah these things. And they will ask you, ‘Why has the Lord said these terrible things to us? What have we done wrong? What sin have we done against the Lord our God?’
11. “Then say to them: ‘This is because your ancestors quit following me,’ says the Lord. ‘And they began to follow other gods. They served and worshiped other gods. Your ancestors left me. And they quit obeying my teaching.
12. But you have done even more evil than your ancestors. You are very stubborn. You do only what you want to do. You have not obeyed me.
13. So I will throw you out of this country. You will go to a land that you and your ancestors never knew. There you can serve false gods day and night. I will not help you or show you any favors.’
14. “People say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel out of Egypt . . .’ But the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when people will not say this anymore.
15. They will say instead, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites from the northern land and from all the countries where he had sent them . . .’ And I will bring them back to the land I gave to their ancestors.
16. “I will soon send for many fishermen to come to this land,” says the Lord. “The fishermen will catch the people of Judah. After that, I will send for many hunters to come to this land. Those hunters will hunt the people of Judah on every mountain and hill. And they will hunt Judah in the cracks of the rocks.
17. I see everything they do. They cannot hide the things they do from me. Their sin is not hidden from my eyes!
18. I will pay back the people of Judah for the evil they have done. I will punish them two times for every one of their sins. I will do this because they have made my land unclean. They have done it with their hated idols. They have filled my country with them!”
19. Lord, you are my strength and my protection.You are a safe place for me to run to in times of trouble.The nations will come to you from all over the world.They will say, “Our fathers had only false gods.They worshiped useless idols that didn’t help them.
20. Can people make gods for themselves?They will not really be gods!”
21. The Lord says, “So I will teach those who make idols.Right now I will teach themabout my power and my strength.Then they will knowthat my name is the Lord.