I will bring terror on you from every side,” says the Lord God who rules over all. ¹  “You will be scattered in every direction. ²  No one will gather the fugitives back together.

I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff. ¹  They will winnow her and strip her land bare. ²  This will happen when ³  they come against her from every direction, when it is time to destroy her. ⁴ 

Their camels will be taken as plunder. Their vast herds will be taken as spoil. I will scatter to the four winds those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples. ¹  I will bring disaster against them from every direction,” says the Lord. ² 

I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven. I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go. ¹ 

Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. ¹  It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them. ² 

“My, how good you have become at chasing after your lovers! ¹  Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! ² 

The prophets prophesy lies. The priests exercise power by their own authority. ¹  And my people love to have it this way. But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ² 

So I bought the shorts as the Lord had told me to do ¹  and put them on. ² 

They will ask the way to Zion; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come ¹  and bind themselves to the Lord in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten. ² 

“The Lord says, ¹  ‘That is why I will scatter your people ²  like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind. ³ 

They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden. ¹  (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. ² 

The Lord told me, ¹  “Go down ²  to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there. ³ 

Then they asked Baruch, “How did you come to write all these words? Do they actually come from Jeremiah’s mouth?” ¹ 

For our leaders ¹  are stupid. They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ²  So they do not act wisely, and the people they are responsible for ³  have all been scattered.

But how can it rest ¹  when I, the Lord, have ²  given it orders? I have ordered it to attack the people of Ashkelon and the seacoast. ³ 

But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, ¹  and his entire army deserted him.

“At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem ¹  will be told, ‘A scorching wind will sweep down from the hilltops in the desert on ²  my dear people. ³  It will not be a gentle breeze for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. ⁴ 

If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things,” ¹  says the Lord.

“Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ¹  because King Nebuchadnezzar ²  of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” ³ 

Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers! Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people! ¹  The time for you to be slaughtered has come. You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery. ²