I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy. I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
- BSB I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”
- NKJV I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back and not the face In the day of their calamity.”
- NASB ‘Like an east wind I will scatter them Before the enemy; I will show them My back and not My face In the day of their disaster.’ ”
- NLT I will scatter my people before their enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them and refuse to notice their distress.”
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 his people before their enemies and turn his back on them in their disaster. Persistent rebellion forfeits his protecting presence.
Overview
Like an east wind driving chaff, God will disperse Judah before invaders, showing them his back instead of his face in the day of calamity. The withdrawal of God's favorable presence is the gravest judgment of all. It reveals the seriousness of sin and magnifies the grace by which, in Christ, God turns his face toward us again (Numbers 6:25-26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 13:24Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
- Jer 2:27Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
- Hos 13:15Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
- Ps 48:7Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
- Job 27:21The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
- Jer 46:21Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
- Jer 32:33And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
- Prov 7:25–26Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
- Deut 28:64And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
- Deut 28:25The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Deut 31:17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
- Deut 32:35To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
- Judg 10:13–14Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
Resources, by level
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 18:17 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.