Jeremiah 50:1-8

1This is the word the Lord spoke about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through the prophet Jeremiah:

2Announce to the nations; proclaim and raise up a signal flag; proclaim, and hide nothing. Say, “Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is terrified.” Her idols are put to shame; her false gods, devastated.

3For a nation from the north will attack her; it will make her land desolate. No one will be living in it — both people and animals will escape.

4In those days and at that time — this is the Lord’s declaration — the Israelites and Judeans will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the Lord their God.

5They will ask about Zion, turning their faces to this road. They will come and join themselves to the Lord in a permanent covenant that will never be forgotten.

6My people were lost sheep; their shepherds led them astray, guiding them the wrong way in the mountains. They wandered from mountain to hill; they forgot their resting place.

7Whoever found them devoured them. Their adversaries said, “We’re not guilty; instead, they have sinned against the Lord, their righteous grazing land, the hope of their ancestors, the Lord.”

8Escape from Babylon; depart from the Chaldeans’ land. Be like the rams that lead the flock.