On the first day of the first month he had determined to make<n id="1" /> the ascent from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem,<n id="2" /> for the good hand of his God was on him.

Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race<n id="1" /> has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">No one remembers the former events,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">nor will anyone remember<n id="2" /> the events that are yet to happen;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">they will not be remembered by the future generations.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Do not say, &#8220;Why were the old days better than these days?&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">for it is not wise to ask that.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,p> <p class="poetry">wise advisers as in earlier days.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then you will be called, &#8216;The Just City,p> <p class="poetry">Faithful Town.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Who acts and carries out decrees?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Who<n id="2" /> summons the successive generations from the beginning?p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, am present at the very beginning,p> <p class="poetry">and at the very end &#8211; I am the one.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!p> <p class="poetry">Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">so we may examine them<n id="2" /> and see how they were fulfilled.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Or decree for us some future events!p>

<p class="poetry">All nations gather together,p> <p class="poetry">the peoples assemble.p> <p class="poetry">Who among them announced this?p> <p class="poetry">Who predicted earlier events for us?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;p> <p class="poetry">let them listen and affirm, &#8216;It is true.&#8217;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc>, Israel&#8217;s king, says,p> <p class="poetry">their protector,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am the first and I am the last,p> <p class="poetry">there is no God but me.p>

<p class="poetry">For this is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt;p> <p class="poetry">Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.p>

<p class="poetry">Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">will do so in the name of the faithful God;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">whoever makes an oath in the earthp> <p class="poetry">will do so in the name of the faithful God.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For past problems will be forgotten;p> <p class="poetry">I will no longer think about them.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">For look, I am ready to createp> <p class="poetry">new heavens and a new earth!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The former ones<n id="2" /> will not be remembered;p> <p class="poetry">no one will think about them anymore.<n id="3" />p>

Before I restore them<n id="1" /> I will punish them in full<n id="2" /> for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own<n id="3" /> with their detestable idols.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;The people of Israel are like scattered sheepp> <p class="poetry">which lions have chased away.p> <p class="poetry">First the king of Assyria devoured them.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you must take an unblemished young bull and purify the sanctuary.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will celebrate the Passover, and for seven days bread made without yeast will be eaten.

<p class="bodytext">On the twenty-fourth day of the first month<n id="1" /> I was beside the great river, the Tigris.<n id="2" />

For the king of the north will again muster an army, one larger than before. At the end of some years he will advance with a huge army and enormous supplies.p>

<p class="poetry">Citizens of Zion,<n id="1" /> rejoice!p> <p class="poetry">Be glad because of what the <sc>Lordsc> your God has done!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For he has given to you the early rains<n id="3" /> as vindication.p> <p class="poetry">He has sent<n id="4" /> to you the rains &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">both the early and the late rains<n id="5" /> as formerly.p>

<p class="poetry">As for you, watchtower for the flock,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">fortress of Daughter Zion<n id="2" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">your former dominion will be restored,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.p>