I will have compassion on you so that he in turn will have mercy on you and allow you to return to your land.’

I will make myself available to you,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will reverse your plight and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’

“Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the Lord, “for I am your true master. If you do, I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

So I will carry you far off and throw you away. I will send both you and the city I gave to you and to your ancestors out of my sight.

Do not listen to them, because their prophecies are lies. Listening to them will only cause you to be taken far away from your native land. I will drive you out of your country and you will die in exile.

I will give you leaders who will be faithful to me. They will lead you with knowledge and insight.

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the Lord, affirm it!

“So, once more I will state my case against you,” says the Lord. “I will also state it against your children and grandchildren.

Yet even then I will not completely destroy you,” says the Lord.

If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.

In anger, in fury, and in wrath I myself will fight against you with my mighty power and great strength!

King Zedekiah said to them, “Very well, you can do what you want with him. For I cannot do anything to stop you.”

“For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over will I again take up consideration for you. Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore you to your homeland.

‘If you will just stay in this land, I will build you up. I will not tear you down. I will firmly plant you. I will not uproot you. For I am filled with sorrow because of the disaster that I have brought on you.

I brought you into a fertile land so you could enjoy its fruits and its rich bounty. But when you entered my land, you defiled it; you made the land I call my own loathsome to me.

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.

And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.’”

The Lord says, “Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.”

For I, the Lord, affirm that I did not send them. They are prophesying lies to you. If you listen to them, I will drive you and the prophets who are prophesying lies out of the land and you will all die in exile.”

Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the Lord for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’