'Away' in the Bible

It came [to Jeremiah] also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, [continuing] until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, [and continuing] until the exile of [the people of] Jerusalem in the fifth month (July-August, 586 b.c.).

The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north [its mouth about to pour out on the south, on Judea].”

Yet you keep saying, ‘I am innocent;Surely His anger has turned away from me.’Behold (listen very carefully), I will bring you to judgment and will plead my case against youBecause you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

“From Egypt also you will come away [as captives]With your hands on your head;For the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust (confide),And you will not be successful with them.”

That is to say, “If a man divorces his wifeAnd she goes [away] from himAnd becomes another man’s [wife],Will he return to her again? [Of course not!]Will not that land [where such a thing happened] be completely desecrated?But you [rebelled against Me and you] are a prostitute with many lovers;Yet you turn to Me.” says the Lord.

And I saw [that even though Judah knew] that for all the acts of adultery (idolatry) of faithless Israel, I [the Lord] had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid; but she went and was a prostitute also [following after idols].

“Then I said,‘How [gloriously and honorably] I would set you among My childrenAnd give you a pleasant land—a wonderful heritage,The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My FatherAnd not turn away from following Me.’

“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,“If you will return to Me,And if you will put away your detestable things and remove your man-made gods from My sight,And not stray or waver,

“Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the LordAnd remove the foreskin [sins] of your heart,Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,Or else My wrath will go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way]And burn and there will be no one to quench it,Because of the evil of your acts.”

“Go up through the rows of Jerusalem’s vineyards and destroy [them],But do not completely destroy everything.Strip away her branches and the tendrils [of her vines],For they are not the Lord’s.

‘But this people has a stubborn heart and a rebellious will [that draws them away from Me];They have turned away and have gone [into idolatry].

‘Your wickedness has turned these [blessings] away,And your sins have withheld good [harvests] from you.

‘Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and throw it away,And take up a mournful cry on the barren heights,For the Lord has rejected and abandonedThe generation of His wrath.’

And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth and no one will frighten them away.

“Moreover [Jeremiah], you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,“Do men fall and not rise up again?Does one turn away [from God] and not repent and return [to Him]?

“Why then has this people of JerusalemTurned away with a perpetual turning away [from Me]?They hold tightly to deceit (idolatry);They refuse to repent and return [to God].

“I will gather and snatch them away [utterly consuming them],” says the Lord.“There will be no grapes on the vine,Nor figs on the fig tree,And even the leaf will wither;And the things that I have given them will pass away [by the hand of those whom I have appointed].”’”

Oh that I had in the wildernessA lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men,That I might leave my peopleAnd go away from them!For they are all adulterers [worshiping idols instead of the Lord],[They are] an assembly of treacherous men [of weak character, men without integrity].

How long must the land mournAnd the grass of the countryside wither?Because of the wickedness and hypocrisy of those who live in it,The beasts and the birds are consumed and are swept away [by the drought],Because men [mocking me] have said, “He will not [live long enough to] see [what happens at] our final end.”

The cities of the South (the Negev) have been closed up,And there is no one to open them;All Judah has been carried into exile,Completely carried away into exile.

“Therefore I will scatter you like drifting straw[Driven away] by the desert wind.

I will appoint four kinds of destroyers over them,” says the Lord, “the sword to slay, the dogs to tear and drag away, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.

O Lord, You know and understand;Remember me [thoughtfully], take notice of me,take vengeance for me on my persecutors.Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;Know that for Your sake I endure [continual] rebuke and dishonor.

For thus says the Lord, “Do not enter a house of mourning, nor go to lament (express grief) or bemoan [the dead], for I have taken My peace away from this people,” says the Lord, “even My lovingkindness and compassion.

Should good be repaid with evil?Yet they have dug a pit for me.Remember [with compassion] that I stood before YouTo speak good on their behalf,To turn Your anger away from them.

Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him;But weep bitterly for the one who goes away [into exile],For he will never returnAnd see his native country [again].

Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, in regard to the shepherds who care for and feed My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; hear this, I am about to visit and attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” says the Lord.

Therefore behold, I, even I, will assuredly forget you and send you away from My presence, you and the city (Jerusalem) which I gave to you and to your fathers.

Within two years I am going to bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.

and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord confirm and fulfill your words which you have prophesied to bring back the articles of the Lord’s house and all the captives, from Babylon to this place.

Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders in exile and to the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Seek peace and well-being for the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its peace (well-being) you will have peace.’

I will be found by you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and I will [free you and] gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

Hear, therefore, the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations,And declare it in the isles and coastlands far away,And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather himAnd will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will do them good and not turn away from them; and I will put in their heart a fear and reverential awe of Me, so that they will not turn away from Me.

then I would [also] reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy on them.’”

Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will certainly stay away from us,” for they will not stay away.

that Jeremiah left Jerusalem [during the withdrawal of the Chaldean invaders] to go to [Anathoth, his hometown, in] the land of Benjamin to take possession of [the title to] the land [which he had purchased] there among the people.

Then Nebuzaradan the [chief executioner and] captain of the bodyguard took the rest of the people who remained in the city, along with those who had deserted and surrendered to him, and the rest of the [so-called better class of] people who were left and carried them into exile in Babylon.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken as exiles to Babylon.

Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—even the king’s daughters (ladies of the court) and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and crossed over [the Jordan] to [meet his allies] the Ammonites.

So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and joined Johanan the son of Kareah.

But Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so they may [either] put us to death or exile us to Babylon.”

And [through him] I will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them (Egyptian idols) captive. He will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will go away from there safely.

And I will take the remnant of Judah who have decided to go into the land of Egypt to live there [instead of surrendering to the Chaldeans as directed], and they will all fall and die in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword or perish by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword or by famine; and they will become detestable, an object of horror, a curse, and a disgrace.

“Why have your strong ones been cut down?They do not stand because the Lord drove them away.

“He will make many stumble and fall;Yes, they have fallen one on another.Then they said, ‘Arise, and let us go backTo our own people and to the land of our birth,Away from the sword of the oppressor.’

“Give a gravestone to Moab,For she will fall into ruins;Her cities (pastures, farms) will be desolate,Without anyone to live in them.

“So joy and gladness are taken awayFrom the fruitful field and from the land of Moab.And I have made the wine cease from the wine presses;No one treads the grapes with shouting.Their shouting is not joyful shouting [but is instead, a battle cry].

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;For your sons have been taken away captiveAnd your daughters into captivity.

“Why do you boast of your valleys?Your valley is flowing away,[O Ammon] rebellious and faithless daughterWho trusts in her treasures, saying,‘Who will come against me?’

Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has devised against Edom, and [hear] what He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will be dragged away, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their dwelling place desolate because of them.

Concerning Damascus [in Syria].“Hamath and Arpad are perplexed and shamed,For they have heard bad news;They are disheartened;Troubled and anxious like a [storm-tossed] seaWhich cannot be calmed.

Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has devised against Babylon, and hear what He has purposed against [the inhabitants of the land of] the Chaldeans: surely they will be dragged away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their habitation desolate because of them.

“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me,He has set me down like an empty vessel.Like a monster he has swallowed me up,He has filled his belly with my delicacies;He has spit me out and washed me away.

You who have escaped the sword,Go away! Do not stay!Remember the Lord from far away,And let [desolate] Jerusalem come into your mind.

Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, those who were left in the city [at the time it was captured], along with those who deserted to join the king of Babylon [during the siege] and the rest of the artisans.

They also took away the pots [for carrying away ashes] and the shovels and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.

The captain of the guard also took away the [small] bowls and the firepans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the incense cups and the bowls for the drink offerings—whatever was made of fine gold and whatever was made of fine silver.

Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its own land.

This is the number of people whom Nebuchadnezzar took captive and exiled: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, [he took captive] 832 persons from Jerusalem;

in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the [Babylonian] guard took captive 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.