When they ask where they should go, why does the Lord speak of “pestilence,” “sword,” “famine,” and “captivity,” and appointing “four kinds of destroyers”?

Jeremiah 15:2 (ESV)

2 And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

The Lord anticipates how the people will respond to his command to send them away from his presence. They will ask, Where shall we go? When they do, Jeremiah is to simply remind them of the judgment that is coming. The implication is that since they have rejected the Lord there is no refuge for them; there is nowhere to go. Captivity is added to the triple horrors of invasion already mentioned in Jeremiah 14:12. Those who are fortunate enough to escape the ravages of invasion will be taken captive by the enemy.

The scenes of death caused by the invasion are made even more graphic. The Lord himself will send four kinds of destroyers; the sword to kill, the dogs to tear and the birds of the air and the beasts of the field to devour and destroy. The slaughter during the invasion will be so great that there will be no opportunity to bury the dead (see Jeremiah 14:16). Added to this will be the humiliation and shame of unburied bodies being eaten by wild animals.