Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this [is] the time of the LORD's vengeance; He shall recompense her.

" My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the LORD.

" Set up signposts, Make landmarks; Set your heart toward the highway, The way in [which] you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back to these your cities.

'Yet a small number who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone to the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose words will stand, Mine or theirs.

" Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out of the land of the Chaldeans; And be like the rams before the flocks.

Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, Declare, proclaim this, Utter it to the end of the earth; Say, "The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!"

So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!

Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean [thing;] Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the LORD.

For you shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the LORD will go before you, And the God of Israel [will be] your rear guard.

"Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon."

"For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me.

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

"But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find [Him] if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

'(for the LORD your God [is] a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

"Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call [them] to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you,

"that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.

Who [is] among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which [is] in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He [is] God), which [is] in Jerusalem.

Then the heads of the fathers' [houses] of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which [is] in Jerusalem.

that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned [for many] days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

and said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, [lies] waste, and its gates are burned with fire?"

And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it."

You will arise [and] have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come.

For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And show favor to her dust.

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget [its skill!]

If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth -- If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.

in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years [specified] by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

" O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people [are] a reproach to all [those] around us.

"O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.