12. “Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, O backsliding Yisra’ĕl,’ declares יהוה, ‘I shall not look on you in displeasure, for I am kind,’ declares יהוה, ‘and I do not bear a grudge forever.
13. ‘Only, acknowledge your crookedness, because you have transgressed against יהוה your Elohim, and have scattered your ways to strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares יהוה.
14. “Return, O backsliding children,” declares יהוה, “for I shall rule over you, and shall take you, one from a city and two from a clan, and shall bring you to Tsiyon.
15. “And I shall give you shepherds according to My heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16. “And it shall be, when you have increased, and shall bear fruit in the land in those days,” declares יהוה, “that they no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of יהוה.’ Neither would it come to heart, nor would they remember it, nor would they visit it, nor would it be made again.
17. “At that time Yerushalayim shall be called the throne of יהוה, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the Name of יהוה, to Yerushalayim, and no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.