1. “How terrible it will be for the leaders of Judah, who are scattering and destroying my people,” says the Lord.
2. They are responsible for the people, so the Lord, the God of Israel, says to them: “You have scattered my people and forced them away and not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil things you have done,” says the Lord.
3. “I sent my people to other countries, but I will gather those who are left alive and bring them back to their own country. Then they will have many children and grow in number.
4. I will place new leaders over my people, who will take care of them. And my people will not be afraid or terrified again, and none of them will be lost,” says the Lord.
5. “The days are coming,” says the Lord,“when I will raise up a good branch in David’s family.He will be a king who will rule in a wise way;he will do what is fair and right in the land.
6. In his time Judah will be saved,and Israel will live in safety.This will be his name:The Lord Does What Is Right.
7. “So the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when people will not say again: ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought Israel out of Egypt . . . ’
8. But people will say something new: ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where he had sent them away . . . ’ Then the people of Israel will live in their own land.”
9. A message to the prophets:My heart is broken.All my bones shake.I’m like someone who is drunk,like someone who has been overcome with wine.This is because of the Lordand his holy words.
10. The land of Judah is full of people who are guilty of adultery.Because of this, the Lord cursed the land.It has become a very sad place,and the pastures have dried up.The people are eviland use their power in the wrong way.
11. “Both the prophets and the priests live as if there were no God.I have found them doing evil things even in my own Temple,” says the Lord.