Look, the punishment from the Lord will come like a storm. His anger will be like a hurricane. It will come swirling down on the heads of those wicked people.
This is a message about the Desert by the Sea: Disaster is coming from the desert like wind blowing in the south. It is coming from a terrible country.
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.
The noise will spread all over the earth, because the Lord will accuse all the nations. He will judge and tell what is wrong with all people, and he will kill the evil people with a sword,’ ” says the Lord.
This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Disasters will soon spread from nation to nation. They will come like a powerful storm from the faraway places on earth.”
Look! It is a storm from the Lord! He is angry and has gone out to punish the people. Punishment will come like a storm crashing down on the evil people.
The Lord will stay angry until he finishes punishing the people. He will stay angry until he finishes the punishment he planned. When that day comes, you will understand this.
At that time this message will be given to Judah and Jerusalem: “A hot wind blows from the bare hilltops of the desert toward the Lord’s people. It is not a gentle wind to separate grain from chaff.
When I looked, I saw a stormy wind coming from the north. There was a great cloud with a bright light around it and fire flashing out of it. Something that looked like glowing metal was in the center of the fire.
So I will send fire on the city wall of Rabbah that will destroy its strong buildings. It will come during a day of battle, during a stormy day with strong winds.
‘I scattered them like a hurricane to other countries they did not know. This good land was left so ruined behind them that no one could live there. They had made the desired land a ruin.’ ”
Then the Lord will appear above them, and his arrows will shoot like lightning. The Lord God will blow the trumpet, and he will march in the storms of the south.