8. “How terrible will be your punishment, Assyria. You have let wicked people hide within your borders. Remember, sinful nation, what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah.
9. Their land now lies covered with lumps of tar and heaps of ashes. That is what I do to people who do not obey me.
10. “The Lord says to Ezra: announce to my new people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I had planned to give to Israel.
11. I will take the dazzling light of my presence away from Israel and will give to my new people the eternal Temple that I had prepared for Israel.
12. The tree of life will fill the air round them with its fragrance. They will never have to work; they will never grow tired.
13. Ask, and you will receive. Pray that the number of the days you have to wait will be reduced. Even now the kingdom has been prepared for you, so stay alert.
14. Call heaven and earth to witness that I, the living God, have abolished evil and created good.