That is why those people will soon disappear. They will be like a fog that comes early in the morning and then quickly disappears. The Israelites will be like chaff that is blown from the threshing floor. The Israelites will be like smoke that goes out a window and disappears.
A third of your people will die inside the city from diseases and hunger. Another third will die in battle outside the city. And then I will pull out my sword and chase the last third of your people into faraway countries.
Some of the people will be killed by soldiers. Others will be made prisoners and taken to all the different countries. The holy city of Jerusalem will be under the control of foreigners until their time is completed.
before you become like a dry and dying flower. In the heat of day, a flower will wilt and die. You will be like that when the Lord shows his terrible anger. So change your lives before the Lord shows his anger against you!
and I will destroy his army. I will destroy his best soldiers and scatter them to the wind. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that I told you these things.”
God said, “But I will let a few of your people escape. They will live in other countries for a short time. I will scatter them and force them to live in other countries.
You will throw them into the air, and the wind will blow them away and scatter them. Then you will be happy in the Lord. You will be proud of the Holy One of Israel.
And like the waves, they will rush away when God speaks harshly to them. They will be like chaff blown away by the wind. They will be like weeds chased by a storm.
The Lord will scatter you among all the people in the world. He will scatter you from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve false gods made of wood and stone. They are false gods that you or your ancestors never worshiped.
I will scatter the people of Judah throughout other nations. They will live in strange nations that they and their fathers never knew about. I will send men with swords. They will kill the people of Judah. They will kill them until all the people are gone.”
Like a strong east wind, I will scatter my people. I will use their enemies to scatter them like dust. When disaster comes upon them, they will see me leaving, not coming to help.”
“The Lord rejected all my powerful men who were inside the city. Then he brought a group of people against me. He brought them to kill my young soldiers. The Lord has trampled his dearest city like grapes in a winepress.