A reading from the book of Jeremiah.

The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon,

concerning the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

Declare among the nations and proclaim.

Set up a banner and proclaim.

Conceal it not and say,

Babylon is taken. Bell is put to shame, Marodac is dismayed,

Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.

For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation,

And none shall dwell in it. Both man and beast shall flee away.

In those days, and in that time declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah

shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces

turned toward it, saying, come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant

that will never be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains.

From mountain to hill they have gone.

They have forgotten their fold.

All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said,

We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness,

the Lord, the hope of their fathers.

Flee from the midst of Babylon and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats

before the flock.

For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations from the

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