You will throw them into the air, and the wind will carry them away; a windstorm will scatter them. Then you will be happy in the Lord; you will be proud of the Holy One of Israel.
The people roar like the waves, but when God speaks harshly to them, they will run away. They will be like chaff on the hills being blown by the wind, or like tumbleweeds blown away by a storm.
At that time people will say, “Our God is doing this! We have waited for him, and he has come to save us. This is the Lord. We waited for him, so we will rejoice and be happy when he saves us.”
the people the Lord has freed will return there. They will enter Jerusalem with joy, and their happiness will last forever. Their gladness and joy will fill them completely, and sorrow and sadness will go far away.
They are like plants that are placed in the ground, like seeds that are planted. As soon as they begin to grow strong, he blows on them and they die, and the wind blows them away like chaff.
So the Lord will comfort Jerusalem; he will show mercy to those who live in her ruins. He will change her deserts into a garden like Eden; he will make her empty lands like the garden of the Lord. People there will be very happy; they will give thanks and sing songs.
The sun will no longer be your light during the day nor will the brightness from the moon be your light, because the Lord will be your light forever, and your God will be your glory.
I have separated the people of Judah with my pitchfork and scattered them at the city gates of the land. My people haven’t changed their ways. So I have destroyed them and taken away their children.
I will send foreign people to destroy Babylon like a wind that blows chaff away. They will destroy the land. Armies will surround the city when the day of disaster comes upon her.
This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor, where people crush the grain at harvest time. The time to harvest Babylon is coming soon.”
Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold broke to pieces at the same time. They became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summertime; the wind blew them away, and there was nothing left. Then the rock that hit the statue became a very large mountain that filled the whole earth.
I won’t punish you in my anger, and I won’t destroy Israel again. I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am among you. I will not come against you in anger.
So be happy, people of Jerusalem; be joyful in the Lord your God. Because he does what is right, he has brought you rain; he has sent the fall rain and the spring rain for you, as before.
Those of Jacob’s people who are left alive will be scattered among many nations and peoples. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion in a flock of sheep: As it goes, it jumps on them and tears them to pieces, and no one can save them.
He will come ready to clean the grain, separating the good grain from the chaff. He will put the good part of the grain into his barn, but he will burn the chaff with a fire that cannot be put out.”
We are the ones who are truly circumcised. We worship God through his Spirit, and our pride is in Christ Jesus. We do not put trust in ourselves or anything we can do,