'Great' in the Bible

“Raise a banner toward Zion [to mark the way for those seeking safety inside Jerusalem’s walls]!Seek refuge, do not stand [immobile],For I am bringing evil from the north (the army of Babylon),And great destruction.

“I will go to the great [men]And speak to them,For they [must] know the way of the Lord,The ordinance of their God.”But [I found the reverse to be true, that] they too had all alike broken the yoke [of God’s law]And had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].

Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,A wolf of the deserts will destroy them,A leopard is watching their cities.Everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,Because their transgressions are many,Their desertions of faith are countless.

‘As a cage is full of birds,So are their houses full of deceit and treachery;Therefore they have become influential and rich.

“Run for safety, you children of Benjamin,Out of the midst of Jerusalem!And blow a trumpet in Tekoa [in Judah]And raise a signal-fire in Beth-haccherem [near Jerusalem];For evil is looking down [with eager anticipation] from the north,And great destruction.

“Therefore hear, O [Gentile] nations,And see, O congregation, what [vengeful act] is to be done to them.

Thus says the Lord,“Behold, a people is coming from the north country,And a great nation shall be stirred up and put into action from the remote parts of the earth.

“Even the stork in the skyKnows her seasons [of migration],And the turtledove, the swallow and the craneObserve the time of their return.But My people do not knowThe law of the Lord.

Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there?Why then has not the [spiritual] health of the daughter of my people been restored?

There is none like You, O Lord;You are great, and great is Your mighty and powerful name.

The sound of a report! Behold, [the invader] comes—A great commotion from the country of the north (Babylonia)—To make the cities of JudahA desolation, a haunt and dwelling place of jackals.

The Lord [acknowledged you once as worthy and] called your name,“A green olive tree, fair and beautiful in fruit and form”;But with the roar of a great tempestHe has set fire to it,And its branches are worthless.

“Thus says the Lord, ‘In this same way I shall destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

“Therefore [Jeremiah] you will say this word to them,‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,And let them never cease;For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a great blow,With a very serious and severely infected wound.

Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, nor will they be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief in death), nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them [in mourning].

Thus says the Lord,“Cursed is the man who trusts in and relies on mankind,Making [weak, faulty human] flesh his strength,And whose mind and heart turn away from the Lord.

Because he did not kill me before my birth,So that my mother might have been my grave,And her womb always pregnant.

I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm in anger, in fury, and in great indignation and wrath.

I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great virulent disease.

“Many nations will pass by this city; and each man will say to another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’

Therefore thus says the Lord in regard to Jehoiakim the [second] son of Josiah, king of Judah,“The relatives will not lament (mourn over with expressions of grief) for him:‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister,’ [how great our loss]!The subjects will not lament for him:‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, majesty [how great was his glory]!’

(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even the Chaldeans [who enslaved other nations]; and I will repay [all of] them according to their deeds and according to the work of their [own] hands.)’”

Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Behold, evil is going forthFrom nation to nation,And a great whirling tempest is risingFrom the remotest part of the earth.

“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put Micah to death? Did he not [reverently] fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord? And did not the Lord relent and reverse His decision concerning the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But [here] we are [thinking of] committing a great evil against ourselves.”

“I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to whomever pleases Me.

All nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the [appointed] time [of punishment] for his own land comes; then many nations and great kings shall make him their servant.

The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of disaster and of virulent disease.

‘Alas! for that day is great,There is none like it;It is the time of Jacob’s [unequaled] trouble,But he will be saved from it.

“Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,Among them [will be] the blind and the lame,The woman with child and she who labors in childbirth, together;A great company, they will return here [to Jerusalem].

‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—

You who show lovingkindness to thousands, but repay the wickedness (sin, guilt) of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], O great and mighty God; the Lord of hosts is His name;

great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror;

Behold, I will gather them out of all countries to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them live in safety.

For thus says the Lord, ‘Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.’

It may be that their supplication [for mercy] will come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”

then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered a great abundance of wine and summer fruits.

they took all their men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and found him by the great pool in Gibeon.

Therefore now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why did you commit this great evil against yourselves [bringing disaster] that will cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant?

Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, and all the women who were standing by, a large group, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah, saying,

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all [you people of] Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have sworn [an oath] by My great Name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My Name shall never again be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord God lives.”

And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring disaster on all flesh,’ says the Lord, ‘but I will give your life to you [as your only reward and] as a prize of war wherever you go.’”

For that day belongs to the Lord God of hosts,A day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.And the sword will devour and be satiatedAnd drink its fill of their blood;For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice [like that of a great sin offering]In the north country by the river Euphrates.

“The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,‘Desolation and great destruction!’

“For behold, I will stir up and bring up against BabylonAn assembly of great nations from the north country.They will equip themselves and set up the battle lines against her;From there she will be taken captive.Their arrows will be like an expert warriorWho will not return empty-handed.

Your mother [Babylon] shall be greatly shamed;She who gave you birth will be ashamed.Behold, she will be the least of the nations,A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.

“The noise of battle is in the land,And [the noise of] great destruction.

“Behold, a people is coming from the north,And a great nation and many kingsWill be stirring from the remote parts of the earth.

And that the fords [across the Euphrates] have been blocked and [the ferries] seized,And they have set the [great] marshes on fire,And the men of war are terrified.

Therefore thus says the Lord,“Behold, I will plead your caseAnd take full vengeance for you;I will dry up her sea and great reservoirAnd make her fountain dry.

The sound of an outcry [comes] from Babylon,And [the sound] of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon and make her a ruin,And He will still her great voice [that hums with city life].And the waves [of her conquerors] roar like great waters,The noise of their voices is raised up [like the marching of an army].

He burned down the house of the Lord and the king’s palace and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house or important structure he set on fire.