4 “In those days, at that time,”

declares the Lord,

“the people of Israel and the people of Judah togethery

will go in tearsz to seeka the Lord their God.

5 They will ask the wayb to Zion

and turn their faces toward it.

They will comec and bind themselves to the Lord

in an everlasting covenantd

that will not be forgotten.

6 “My people have been lost sheep;e

their shepherdsf have led them astrayg

and caused them to roam on the mountains.

They wandered over mountain and hillh

and forgot their own resting place.i

7 Whoever found them devouredj them;

their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty,k

for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture,

the Lord, the hopel of their ancestors.’

8 “Fleem out of Babylon;n

leave the land of the Babylonians,

and be like the goats that lead the flock.

9 For I will stiro up and bring against Babylon

an alliance of great nationsp from the land of the north.q

They will take up their positions against her,

and from the north she will be captured.r

Their arrowss will be like skilled warriors

who do not return empty-handed.