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.
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 Arameans came from the east and the Philistines from the west, and they ate up Israel with their armies. But the Lord was still angry; his hand was still raised to punish the people.
So now, let their children starve, and let their enemies kill them with swords. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. Let the men from Judah be put to death and the young men be killed with swords in battle.
Lord, don’t you look for truth in people? You struck the people of Judah, but they didn’t feel any pain. You crushed them, but they refused to learn what is right. They became more stubborn than a rock; they refused to turn back to God.
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.
Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our strong cities. Death has taken away our children who play in the streets and the young men who meet in the city squares.
‘Say to the people of Israel, This is what the Lord God says: I am going to dishonor my Temple. You think it gives you strength. You are proud of it, and you look at it with love and tenderness. But your sons and daughters that you left behind in Jerusalem will fall dead by the sword.
“And as for you, human, this is how it will be. I will take away the Temple that gives them strength and joy, that makes them proud. They look at it with love, and it makes them happy. And I will take away their sons and daughters also.
Don’t be like your ancestors. In the past the prophets said to them: This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘Stop your evil ways and evil actions.’ But they wouldn’t listen or pay attention to me, says the Lord.
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.”