Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, ¹  and speak to them – say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”

I came to the exiles at Tel Abib, ¹  who lived by the Kebar River. ²  I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days. ³ 

“Choose some people ¹  from among the exiles, namely, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, all of whom have come from Babylon, and when you have done so go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ²