14 I will bring the other nations against them\par like a storm.\par They didn’t know those nations,\par but the country will be destroyed\par after those nations pass through.\par This pleasant country will be destroyed.”\par
14 but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
14 But I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they know not and who know not them. Thus the land was desolate after they had gone, so that no man passed through or returned, for they [the Jews by their sins] had [caused to be] laid waste and forsaken the pleasant land (the land of desire).
14 but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
14 I scattered them throughout the nations whom they didn’t know. The land was devastated behind them, with no one leaving or returning. They turned a delightful land into a wasteland.
14 And I dispersed them throughout all the kingdoms that they did not know. And the land was left desolate behind them, so that no one was passing through or returning. And they made the desirable land into a deserted place.
14 And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a wilderness.
And so the things the Lord told the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah really happened. The Lord had said through Jeremiah: “This place will be an empty wasteland for 70 years. {\cf2\super [456]} This will happen to make up for the Sabbath rests {\cf2\super [457]} that the people didn’t do.”
\{And the people will be like those waves—\}\par God will speak harshly to the people,\par and they will run away.\par The people will be like chaff {\cf2\super [181]} \par being chased by the wind.\par The people will be like tumbleweeds {\cf2\super [182]} \par being chased by a storm.\par The wind blows and the weeds go far away.\par
“You will never again be left alone.\par You will never again be hated.\par You will never again be empty.\par I will make you great forever.\par You will be happy forever and ever.\par
Look, the Lord is coming with fire. The Lord’s armies are coming with clouds of dust. The Lord will punish those people with his anger. The Lord will use flames of fire to punish those people while he is angry.
Many shepherds (leaders) have ruined\par my field of grapes.\par Those shepherds have walked\par on the plants in my field.\par Those shepherds have made my beautiful field\par into an empty desert.\par
Now the punishment from the Lord\par will come like a storm.\par The Lord’s anger will be like a tornado.\par It will come crashing down\par on the heads of those wicked people.\par
The Lord was very angry!\par He punished the people.\par The punishment came like a storm.\par The punishment came like a tornado\par against those wicked people.\par
So, I showed my anger against those people. I punished the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. My anger made Jerusalem and the towns of Judah the empty piles of stone they are today.”
Family of Israel, this message\par is from the Lord,\par “I will soon bring a nation from far away\par to attack you.\par It is an old nation.\par It is an ancient nation.\par The people of that nation speak a language\par that you don’t know.\par You can’t understand what they say.\par
In Nebuchadnezzar’s 23rd year {\cf2\super [447]} as king, Nebuzaradan took 745 men of Judah into captivity. Nebuzaradan was the commander of the king’s special guards.
You must tell these things to the common people. You must say, ‘The Lord our Master says these things to the people living in Jerusalem and in the other parts of Israel. You people will be very worried while you eat your food. You will be terrified while you drink your water. Why? Because all the things in your country will be destroyed! The enemy will be very cruel to all the people living there.
People in Jerusalem will be so hungry that parents will eat their own children and children will eat their own parents. I will punish you in many ways. And the people that are left alive, I will scatter them to the winds.
Then a little horn grew from one of those four horns. That little horn grew and became very big. It grew toward the southeast. It grew toward the Beautiful Land.
The army will destroy the land\par like a burning fire.\par In front of them, the land will be like\par the Garden of Eden.\par Behind them, the land will be like\par an empty desert.\par Nothing will escape them.\par
I will send wild animals against you. They will take your children away from you. They will destroy your animals. They will kill many of your people. {People will be afraid to travel—}the roads will be empty!
So I will start a fire at the wall of Rabbah. {\cf2\super [28]} That fire will destroy the high towers of Rabbah. Troubles will come to them like a whirlwind {\cf2\super [29]} into their country.
The Lord is patient.\par But he is also very powerful!\par And the Lord will punish guilty people.\par He will not let them go free.\par The Lord \{is coming to punish bad people\}.\par He will use whirlwinds and storms\par to show his power.\par \{A man walks\} on the dust \{on the ground\}.\par But the Lord walks on the clouds!\par
You used Moses’ walking stick\par to stop the enemy soldiers.\par Those soldiers came like a powerful storm\par to fight against us.\par They thought they could defeat us easily,\par like robbing a poor man in secret.\par
\{God says,\} “I have destroyed whole nations. I destroyed their defense towers. I destroyed their streets and now no one goes there any more. Their cities are empty—no one lives there any more.
The Lord will appear to them,\par and he will shoot his arrows like lightning.\par The Lord my Master will blow the trumpet,\par and the army will rush forward\par like a desert dust storm.\par
“The Lord will bring a nation from far away to fight you. You will not understand their language. They will come quickly, like an eagle coming down from the sky.
The Lord will scatter you among all the people in the world. The Lord 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 [188] never worshiped.