Jeremiah 50:4-6, 17-20, 33

YAHWEH says: “When that day comes the people of Israel and the people of Judah will go out together with tears streaming down their cheeks to seek YAHWEH their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward her, saying to one another, ‘Come, let us bind our hearts to YAHWEH in an eternal covenant, which we will never break.’ “My people are like lost sheep; their shepherds led them astray. They are lost, wandering about in the mountains. They went from mountain to hill, forgetting their resting place.

“Israel was like straying lambs, driven away and scattered by lions. “First, the king of Assyria devoured them, and now, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed their bones. So I, YAHWEH, God of Israel, Commander of Angel Armies, say this: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation as I punished the king of Assyria. “I will bring Israel back to her own land. The people will be like sheep eating their fill on Mount Carmel, in Bashan, in the hill country of Ephraim, and in Gilead. They will all be satisfied. I, YAHWEH, declare that at that time, you may look for Israel’s guilt, but it will disappear, you may search for Judah’s sins, but you will not find them, for I will forgive the remnant whose lives I have spared.”

YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, says: “My people, Israel and Judah, are oppressed, You hold them fast and will not let them go.