Jeremiah 9:16 and 31:10

 "I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them" (Jeremiah 9:16 RSV). 

"Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands afar off; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock'" (Jeremiah 31:10 RSV).

Comment:

These two verses are sort of a 'bad news/good news' juxtaposition. The prophet first warns that the people of Zion who are ignoring their spiritual covenant will be scattered in unexpected ways, into lands and situations with which they are not at all familiar. This seems very comparable to what happens to each of us when we lose track of our spiritual identity and purpose, and find ourselves wandering in a confusing experience of dualism, which is totally unfamiliar—coming, as we do, from the Oneness that is God. But not to worry! "He who scattered Israel will gather him." We have within us a Good Shepherd of spiritual consciousness who is never lost, and always knows how to recapture our Oneness. When we choose to follow that shepherd, we regain the one thing we have needed—a spiritual framework within which the illusion of duality becomes an opportunity to create according to the choices we make.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed