14. “Return home, you wayward children,”says the lord,“for I am your master.I will bring you back to the land of Israel—one from this town and two from that family—from wherever you are scattered.
15. And I will give you shepherds after my own heart,who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.
16. “And when your land is once more filled with people,” says the lord, “you will no longer wish for ‘the good old days’ when you possessed the Ark of the lord’s Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark.
17. In that day Jerusalem will be known as ‘The Throne of the lord.’ All nations will come there to honor the lord. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.
18. In those days the people of Judah and Israel will return together from exile in the north. They will return to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance forever.