The people of Israel will return from Babylon

4 “But I, Yahweh, say that in the future, when that is about to happen,

the people of Israel and the people of Judah will join together.

They will be weeping

and wanting to worship me, their God.

5 They will inquire about the road to Jerusalem,

and then they will start traveling [IDM] toward it.

They will say to each other,

‘We must return to Yahweh again!’

They will make an everlasting agreement with me that they will never forget.

6 My people have been like [MET] lost sheep.

Their leaders/rulers have caused them to abandon me

like [MET] shepherds who have allowed their sheep to wander in the hills and mountains.

My people are like [MET] sheep

that do not know the path to return to the sheepfold.

7 All their enemies who found them attacked them.

They said, ‘We did not sin by attacking them,

because they sinned against Yahweh;

he is the one who provides what they need;

he is the one to whom they should have remained faithful;

he is the one whom their ancestors confidently expected to help them.’

8 But now, I say to the leaders of my people, ‘Flee from Babylon!

Leave the land of Babylonia!

Be like [SIM] male goats that go in front of the rest of the flock;

lead my people back to their own land.

9 Do that because I am going to gather an army of great nations to the north of Babylon.

They will join together to attack Babylon and will capture it.

Their arrows will be like [SIM] skilled warriors

that always hit what they aim at.

10 Babylonia will be conquered,

and those who conquer it will take away everything they want.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”