Deuteronomy 28:64

28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone.

Nehemiah 1:9

1:9 But if you repent ¹  and obey ²  my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, ³  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’

Isaiah 11:11-16

11:11 At that time ⁴  the sovereign master ⁵  will again lift his hand ⁶  to reclaim ⁷  the remnant of his people ⁸  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ⁹  Cush, ¹⁰  Elam, Shinar, ¹¹  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ¹² 

11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people ¹³ 

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

11:13 Ephraim’s jealousy will end, ¹⁴ 

and Judah’s hostility ¹⁵  will be eliminated.

Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah,

and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim.

11:14 They will swoop down ¹⁶  on the Philistine hills to the west; ¹⁷ 

together they will loot the people of the east.

They will take over Edom and Moab, ¹⁸ 

and the Ammonites will be their subjects.

11:15 The Lord will divide ¹⁹  the gulf ²⁰  of the Egyptian Sea; ²¹ 

he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ²²  and send a strong wind, ²³ 

he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ²⁴ 

and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

11:16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria

for the remnant of his people, ²⁵ 

just as there was for Israel,

when ²⁶  they went up from the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 39:25-29

39:25 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Now I will restore ²⁷  the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name. 39:26 They will bear their shame for all their unfaithful acts against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid. 39:27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will magnify myself among them in the sight of many nations. 39:28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them in exile ²⁸  any longer. 39:29 I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, ²⁹  declares the sovereign Lord.”

Zephaniah 3:19-20

3:19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.

I will rescue the lame sheep ³⁰ 

and gather together the scattered sheep.

I will take away their humiliation

and make the whole earth admire and respect them. ³¹ 

3:20 At that time I will lead you –

at the time I gather you together. ³² 

Be sure of this! ³³  I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you ³⁴ 

when you see me restore you,” ³⁵  says the Lord.

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “turn to me.”

[1:9]  ² tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “at the end of the heavens.”

[11:11]  ⁴ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:11]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[11:11]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads, “the sovereign master will again, a second time, his hand.” The auxiliary verb יוֹסִיף (yosif), which literally means “add,” needs a main verb to complete it. Consequently many emend שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) to an infinitive. Some propose the form שַׁנֹּת (shannot, a Piel infinitive construct from שָׁנָה, shanah) and relate it semantically to an Arabic cognate meaning “to be high.” If the Hebrew text is retained a verb must be supplied. “Second time” would allude back to the events of the Exodus (see vv. 15-16).

[11:11]  ⁷ tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”

[11:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”

[11:11]  ⁹ sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).

[11:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[11:11]  ¹² tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”

[11:12]  ¹³ tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.

[11:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “turn aside”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “depart.”

[11:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “hostile ones of Judah.” Elsewhere when the substantival participle of צָרָר (tsarar) takes a pronominal suffix or appears in a construct relationship, the following genitive is objective. (For a list of texts see BDB 865 s.v. III צָרַר) In this case the phrase “hostile ones of Judah” means “those who are hostile toward Judah,” i.e., Judah’s enemies. However, the parallel couplet that follows suggests that Judah’s hostility toward Ephraim is in view. In this case “hostile ones of Judah” means “hostile ones from Judah.” The translation above assumes the latter, giving the immediate context priority over general usage.

[11:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “fly.” Ephraim/Judah are compared to a bird of prey.

[11:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “on the shoulder of Philistia toward the sea.” This refers to the slopes of the hill country west of Judah. See HALOT 506 s.v. כָּתֵף.

[11:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Edom and Moab [will be the place of] the outstretching of their hand,” i.e., included in their area of jurisdiction (see HALOT 648 s.v. ח(וֹ)מִשְׁלֹ).

[11:15]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”

[11:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[11:15]  ²¹ sn That is, the Red Sea.

[11:15]  ²² tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.

[11:15]  ²³ tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.

[11:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.

[11:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and there will be a highway for the remnant of his people who remain, from Assyria.”

[11:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in the day” (so KJV).

[39:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “cause to return.”

[39:28]  ²⁸ tn Heb “there,” referring to the foreign nations to which they were exiled. The translation makes the referent clear.

[39:29]  ²⁹ sn See Ezek 11:19; 37:14.

[3:19]  ³⁰ tn The word “sheep” is supplied for clarification. As in Mic 4:6-7, the exiles are here pictured as injured and scattered sheep whom the divine shepherd rescues from danger.

[3:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will make them into praise and a name, in all the earth, their shame.” The present translation assumes that “their shame” specifies “them” and that “name” stands here for a good reputation.

[3:20]  ³² tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ³³ tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”

[3:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.