I will laugh when hard times hit you like a storm. I will laugh when danger comes your way like a windstorm. I will make fun of you when suffering and trouble come.
Here is a prophecy against Babylon that the Lord gave me. Babylon is known as the Desert by the Sea. An attack is coming through the desert. It is coming from a land of terror. It’s sweeping along like a windstorm blowing across the Negev Desert.
They are planted. They are scattered like seeds. They put down roots in the ground. But as soon as that happens, God blows on them and they dry up. Then a windstorm sweeps them away like straw.
The noise of battle will be heard from one end of the earth to the other. That’s because the Lord will bring charges against the nations. He will judge every human being. He will kill sinful people with his sword,’ ” announces the Lord.
The Lord who rules over all says, “Look! Horrible trouble is spreading from one nation to another. A mighty storm is rising. It is coming from a place that is very far away.”
At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be warned. They will be told, “A hot and dry wind is coming, my people. It is blowing toward you from the bare hilltops in the desert. But it does not separate straw from grain.
I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. I saw a huge cloud. The fire of lightning was flashing out of it. Bright light surrounded it. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal.
“ ‘So the Lord and King speaks. He says, “When I am very angry, I will send a powerful wind. Hailstones and heavy rains will come. They will fall with great force.
So I will set fire to destroy the walls of Rabbah. It will burn up its forts. War cries will be heard on that day of battle. Strong winds will blow on that stormy day.
I used a windstorm to scatter them among all the nations. They were strangers there. The land they left behind became dry and empty. No one could even travel through it. This is how they turned the pleasant land into a dry and empty desert.”
Then the Lord will appear over his people. His arrows will flash like lightning. The Lord and King will blow the trumpet of his thunder. He’ll march out like a storm in the south.