I’m going to give the order. I will sift the nation of Israel out of all the nations as if I were using a sieve. Not one pebble will fall to the ground.
On that day the Lord will begin his threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt. People of Israel, you will be gathered one by one.
Grain is ground into flour, but the grinding eventually stops. It will be threshed. The wheels of his cart will roll over it, but his horses won’t crush it.
His breath is like an overflowing stream. It rises neck high, sifting the nations with a sieve of destruction, placing a bit in the mouths of the people to lead them astray.
Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,” declares the Lord. “I am with you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will correct you with justice. I won’t let you go entirely unpunished.”
I’ll bring the four winds from the four corners of heaven against Elam and scatter its people in every direction. There won’t be a nation where Elam’s refugees won’t go.
I will get rid of rebels and those who do wrong against me. I will bring you out of the land where you are living. You will never enter Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
I forced them into other nations, and they became scattered among the nations. I judged them based on the way that they lived and based on everything that they had done.
Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. I sent them into captivity among the nations, and I brought them back again to their land. I left none of them behind.
One-third of you will die in plagues and be devoured in famines. Another third will die in battles against those around you. I will scatter the remaining third to the wind, and I will pursue them with a sword.
⌞Then the Lord said,⌟ “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to have you apostles for himself. He wants to separate you from me as a farmer separates wheat from husks.
Then the Lord will scatter you among all the people of the world, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve gods made of wood and stone that neither you nor your ancestors ever knew.