1. The word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.
2. Declare ye among the Gentiles, and publish, and set up a banner; publish, and do not conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3. For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein: they shall leave, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4. In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping they shall go and seek the Lord their God.
5. They shall ask the way to Zion, unto where they shall turn their faces, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in an eternal covenant that shall never be forgotten.
6. My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their restingplace.
7. All that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.
8. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the meek in front of the flocks.