13. So I will throw you out of this land and send you into a foreign land where you and your ancestors have never been. There you can worship idols day and night—and I will grant you no favors!’
14. “But the time is coming,” says the lord, “when people who are taking an oath will no longer say, ‘As surely as the lord lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.’
15. Instead, they will say, ‘As surely as the lord lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.’ For I will bring them back to this land that I gave their ancestors.
16. “But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them,” says the lord. “I am sending for hunters who will hunt them down in the mountains, hills, and caves.
17. I am watching them closely, and I see every sin. They cannot hope to hide from me.
18. I will double their punishment for all their sins, because they have defiled my land with lifeless images of their detestable gods and have filled my territory with their evil deeds.”
19. lord, you are my strength and fortress,my refuge in the day of trouble!Nations from around the worldwill come to you and say,“Our ancestors left us a foolish heritage,for they worshiped worthless idols.
20. Can people make their own gods?These are not real gods at all!”
21. The lord says,“Now I will show them my power;now I will show them my might.At last they will know and understandthat I am the lord.