'Scattered' in the Bible

They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].”

So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the entire earth; and they stopped building the city.

Therefore the name of the city was Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire earth; and from that place the Lord scattered and dispersed them over the surface of all the earth.

So the people were scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw.

Then Moses took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it on the surface of the water and made the Israelites drink it.

Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,“Rise up, O Lord!Let Your enemies be scattered;And let those who hate You flee before You.”

then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes [in your return from exile], and have compassion on you, and will gather you together again from all the peoples (nations) where He has scattered you.

The next morning Saul put the men into three companies; and they entered the [Ammonites’] camp during the [darkness of the early] morning watch and killed the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and the survivors were scattered, and no two of them were left together.

“He sent out arrows and scattered them;Lightning, and confused them.

“Then I beat them as [small as] the dust of the earth;I crushed and stamped them as the mire (dirt, mud) of the streets.

And he said,“I saw all IsraelScattered upon the mountains,Like sheep that have no shepherd.And the Lord said,‘These have no master.Let each of them return to his house in peace.’”

The army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Then his entire army was dispersed from him.

Then Micaiah said,“I saw all [the people of] IsraelScattered on the mountains,As sheep that have no shepherd;And the Lord said,‘These have no master.Let each one return to his house in peace.’”

I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered [abroad] and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king’s laws. Therefore it is not in the king’s interest to [tolerate them and] let them stay here.

“The lion perishes for lack of prey,And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]That the hand of the Lord has done this,

“Nothing of his dwells in his tent;Brimstone (burning sulfur) is scattered over his dwelling [to purify it].

He sent out His arrows and scattered them;And He sent an abundance of lightning flashes and confused and routed them [in defeat].

You have made us like sheep to be eaten [as mutton]And have scattered us [in exile] among the nations.

There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

O God, You have rejected us and cast us off. You have broken [down our defenses and scattered] us;You have been angry; O restore us and turn again to us.

When the Almighty scattered [the Canaanite] kings in the land of Canaan,It was snowing on Zalmon.

You have crushed Rahab (Egypt) like one who is slain;You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

For behold, Your enemies, O Lord,For behold, Your enemies will perish;All who do evil will be scattered.

As when the one plows and breaks open the ground [and the soil scatters behind him],Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol [by the injustices of the wicked].

For like wandering birds or scattered nestlings,The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.

At the sound of the tumult, the peoples flee;At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.

‘Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt,That you have rebelled (transgressed) against the Lord your GodAnd have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree,And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.

For the shepherds [of the people] have become [like brutes,] irrational and stupid,And have not searched for the Lord or asked about Him or realized their need for Him;Therefore they have not been wise and have not prospered,And all their flocks are scattered.

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.

‘For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you;For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you,But I will not destroy you completely.But I will judge and discipline you fairlyAnd will by no means regard you as guiltless and leave you unpunished.’

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.”

Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know [who is responsible]. Why should he kill you and cause all the Jews who are gathered near you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”

Israel is a hunted and scattered flock [driven here and there as prey]; the lions have chased them away. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken (gnawed) his bones.

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and his entire army was scattered from him.

The presence of the Lord scattered them [among the nations];He will not continue to look after them.They did not honor the priests;They did not favor the elders.

“Yet I will leave some of you alive [a remnant], for you will have some who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered throughout the countries.

Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed Israel far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries to which they had gone.”’

Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give [back] to you the land of Israel.”’

All the choice men [from Judah] in all his troops will fall by the sword, and those that survive will be scattered to every wind; and you will know [without any doubt] that I the Lord have spoken.”

I will bring you out from the peoples and will gather you from the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;

I will accept you [graciously] as a pleasant and soothing aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you have been scattered; and I will prove Myself holy and manifest My holiness among you in the sight of the nations.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “When I gather the house of Israel from the nations among whom they are scattered, and I manifest my Holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.

‘For thus says the Lord God, “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations among whom they were scattered.

They were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the predators of the field.

My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the face of the earth and no one searched or sought them.”’”

As a shepherd cares for his sheep on the day that he is among his scattered flock, so I will care for My sheep; and I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.

Because you push with side and shoulder, and gore with your horns all those that have become weak and sick until you have scattered them away,

Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the countries. I judged and punished them in accordance with their conduct and their [idolatrous] behavior.

I will gather together all the [Gentile] nations [that were hostile to My people]And bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the Lord has judged).And there I will deal with them and enter into judgment with them thereFor [their treatment of] My people, My inheritance, Israel,Whom they have scattered among the nations,And [because] they have encroached on My land and divided it up.

Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria;Your nobles are lying down [in death].Your people are scattered on the mountainsAnd there is no one to gather them.

He stood and measured the earth;He looked and startled the nations,Yes, the eternal mountains were shattered,The ancient hills bowed low and collapsed.His ways are eternal.

So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the horns [the powerful Gentile nations] that have scattered Judah (the Southern Kingdom), Israel (the Northern Kingdom), and Jerusalem (capital city of Judah).”

I asked, “What are these [horns and craftsmen] coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns (powers) that have scattered Judah so that no man raised up his head [because of the suffering inflicted by the Gentile nations]. But these craftsmen have come to terrify them and make them panic, and throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”

“Hear this! Flee from [Babylon] the land of the north [which shall come under judgment],” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of the heavens,” declares the Lord.

For behold, I am going to raise up a [false] shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or feed the healthy; but will eat the flesh of the fat ones and tear off their hoofs [to consume everything].

“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,And against the Man, My Associate,”Declares the Lord of hosts.“Strike the Shepherd so that the sheep [of the flock] may be scattered;And I will turn My hand and stretch it out against the little ones [of the flock].

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night [disillusioned about Me, confused, and some even ashamed of Me], for it is written [in the Scriptures], ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

And many [of the people] spread their coats on the road [as an act of tribute and homage before a new king], and others [scattered a layer of] leafy branches which they had cut from the fields [honoring Him as Messiah].

Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away [and be ashamed and be afraid to be associated with Me as disciples], because it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

“He has done mighty deeds with His [powerful] arm;He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.

Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does this Man intend to go that we will not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion [of Jews scattered and living] among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

and not only for the nation, but also for the purpose of gathering together into one body the children of God who have been scattered abroad.

Take careful notice: an hour is coming, and has arrived, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, leaving Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody [of importance], and a group of about four hundred men allied themselves with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and came to nothing.

After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up, [and led an uprising] during the time of the census, and drew people after him; he was also killed, and all his followers were scattered.

Saul wholeheartedly approved of Stephen’s death.And on that day a great and relentless persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem; and the believers were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

Now those [believers] who had been scattered went from place to place preaching the word [the good news of salvation through Christ].

So then [since they were unaware of these developments] those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with [the stoning of] Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, without telling the message [of salvation through Christ] to anyone except Jews.

And so the word of the Lord [regarding salvation] was being spread through the entire region.

James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,To the twelve [Hebrew] tribes [scattered abroad among the Gentiles] in the dispersion: Greetings (rejoice)!

Peter, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ,To those [elect—both Jewish and Gentile believers] who live as exiles, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia [Minor], and Bithynia, who are chosen