“Therefore I will scatter them like stubble That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Therefore I will scatter them, as the stubble that passes away, by the wind of the wilderness.
- KJV Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
- BSB “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.
- NASB “Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw To the desert wind.
- NLT “I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the desert winds.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will scatter the people like chaff driven by the desert wind.
Overview
Scattering like windblown stubble pictures the dispersion of exile. The image conveys both the people's worthlessness in judgment and their helplessness before God's power. It recalls the psalmist's warning that the wicked are like chaff the wind drives away (Psalm 1:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 1:4The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
- Lev 26:33I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
- Ezek 5:12A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed within you. A third part will fall by the sword around you. A third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
- Hos 13:3Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney.
- Ezek 5:2A third part you shall burn in the fire in the middle of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled. You shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it. A third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
- Ezek 17:21All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.’
- Deut 28:64Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.
- Ps 83:13–15My God, make them like tumbleweed; like chaff before the wind.
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Deut 4:27Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh will lead you away.
- Deut 32:26I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;
- Isa 17:13The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters: but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm.
- Zeph 2:2before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you.
- Jer 4:11–12At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;
- Isa 41:16You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
- Ezek 6:8“‘“Yet I will leave a remnant, in that you will have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 13:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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