“I will separate them with a winnowing shovel at the city gates. I will make them childless. I will destroy my people because they will not change their ways.
You will winnow them. The wind will carry them away. The windstorm will scatter them. But you will find joy in the Lord and praise the Holy One of Israel.
the Arameans from the east and the Philistines from the west. They will devour Israel with open mouths. Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
Now, hand their children over to famine. Pour out their ⌞blood⌟ by using your sword. Then their wives will become childless widows. Their husbands will be put to death. Their young men will be struck down in battle.
Lord, your eyes look for the truth. You strike these people, but they don’t feel it. You crush them, but they refuse to be corrected. They are more stubborn than rocks. They refuse to turn back.
‘Tell the nation of Israel, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I’m going to dishonor my holy place. You brag that my holy place gives you strength. It’s the thing you love the most. It’s your hearts’ desire. So the sons and daughters that you left behind will die in battle.
“Son of man, on that day I will take their stronghold away from them. It makes them happy and proud. It is their hearts’ desire and the thing they love the most. I will also take away their sons and daughters.
I will bring people, my people Israel, to you. They will take possession of you, and you will be their inheritance. You will no longer take their children away from them.
Don’t be like your ancestors, who heard the earlier prophets preach to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds.’ But they didn’t listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.
His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean up his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into a barn, but he will burn the husks in a fire that can never be put out.”
You will be cursed. You will have few children. Your land will have few crops. Your cattle will be cursed with few calves, and your flocks will have few lambs and kids.
You will watch with your own eyes as your sons and daughters are given to another nation. You will strain your eyes looking for them all day long, but there will be nothing you can do.