Jeremiah 13:24

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

"I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.

"Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw To the desert wind.

"I will scatter you, just as chaff is scattered by the winds blowing in from the desert.

"I'll blow these people away--like wind-blown leaves.

So I will send them in all directions, as dry grass is taken away by the wind of the waste land.

I will scatter you like chaff driven by the wind from the desert.

"Therefore I will scatter them like stubble That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.

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

¹ tn The words, “The Lord says” are not in the text at this point. The words “an oracle of the Lord” does, however, occur in the middle of the next verse and it is obvious the Lord is the speaker. The words have been moved up from the next verse to enhance clarity.

² tn Heb “them.” This is another example of the rapid shift in pronouns seen several times in the book of Jeremiah. The pronouns in the preceding and the following are second feminine singular. It might be argued that “them” goes back to the “flock”/“sheep” in v. 20, but the next verse refers the fate described here to “you” (feminine singular). This may be another example of the kind of metaphoric shifts in referents discussed in the notes on 13:20 above. Besides, it would sound a little odd in the translation to speak of scattering one person like chaff.

³ sn Compare the threat using the same metaphor in Jer 4:11-12.