Jeremiah 49

¹About the children of Ammon. These are the words of the Lord: Has Israel no sons? has he no one to take the heritage? why then has Milcom taken Gad for himself, putting his people in its towns?

²Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord.

³Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests.

⁴Why are you lifted up in pride on account of your valleys, your flowing valley, O daughter ever turning away? who puts her faith in her wealth, saying, Who will come against me?

⁵See, I will send fear on you, says the Lord, the Lord of armies, from those who are round you on every side; you will be forced out, every man straight before him, and there will be no one to get together the wanderers.

⁶But after these things, I will let the fate of the children of Ammon be changed, says the Lord.

⁷About Edom. This is what the Lord of armies has said. Is there no more wisdom in Teman? have wise suggestions come to an end among men of good sense? has their wisdom completely gone?

⁸Go in flight, go back, take cover in deep places, you who are living in Dedan; for I will send the fate of Edom on him, even the time of his punishment.

⁹If men came to get your grapes, would they not let some be uncut on the vines? if thieves came by night, would they not make waste till they had enough?

¹⁰I have had Esau searched out, uncovering his secret places, so that he may not keep himself covered: his seed is wasted and has come to an end, and there is no help from his neighbours.

¹¹Put in my care your children who have no father, and I will keep them safe; and let your widows put their faith in me.

¹²For the Lord has said, Those for whom the cup was not made ready will certainly be forced to take of it; and are you to go without punishment? you will not be without punishment, but will certainly be forced to take from the cup.

¹³For I have taken an oath by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will become a cause of wonder, a name of shame, a waste and a curse; and all its towns will be waste places for ever.

¹⁴Word has come to me from the Lord, and a representative has been sent to the nations, to say, Come together and go up against her, and take your places for the fight.

¹⁵For see, I have made you small among the nations, looked down on by men.

¹⁶... the pride of your heart has been a false hope, O you who are living in the cracks of the rock, keeping your place on the top of the hill: even if you made your living-place as high as the eagle, I would make you come down, says the Lord.

¹⁷And Edom will become a cause of wonder: everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder, and make sounds of fear at all her punishments.

¹⁸As at the downfall of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring towns, says the Lord, no man will be living in it, no son of man will have a resting-place there.

¹⁹See, he will come up like a lion from the thick growth of Jordan against the resting-place of Teman: but I will suddenly make him go in flight from her; and I will put over her the man of my selection: for who is like me? and who will put forward his cause against me? and what keeper of sheep will be able to keep his place before me?

²⁰For this cause give ear to the decision of the Lord which he has made against Edom, and to his purposes designed against the people of Teman: Truly, they will be pulled away by the smallest of the flock; truly, he will make waste their fields with them.

²¹The earth is shaking with the noise of their fall; their cry is sounding in the Red Sea.

²²See, he will come up like an eagle in flight, stretching out his wings against Bozrah: and the hearts of Edom's men of war on that day will be like the heart of a woman in birth-pains.

²³About Damascus. Hamath is put to shame, and Arpad; for the word of evil has come to their ears, their heart in its fear is turned to water, it will not be quiet.

²⁴Damascus has become feeble, she is turned to flight, fear has taken her in its grip: pain and sorrows have come on her, as on a woman in birth-pains.

²⁵How has the town of praise been wasted, the place of joy!

²⁶So her young men will be falling in her streets, and all the men of war will be cut off in that day, says the Lord of armies.

²⁷And I will have a fire lighted on the wall of Damascus, burning up the great houses of Ben-hadad.

²⁸About Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, overcame. This is what the Lord has said: Up! go against Kedar, and make an attack on the children of the east.

²⁹Their tents and their flocks they will take; they will take away for themselves their curtains and all their vessels and their camels: they will give a cry to them, Fear on every side.

³⁰Go in flight, go wandering far off, take cover in deep places, O people of Hazor, says the Lord; for Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, has made a design against you, he has a purpose against you in mind.

³¹Up! go against a nation which is living in comfort and without fear of danger, says the Lord, without doors or locks, living by themselves.

³²And their camels will be taken from them by force, and their great herds will come into the hands of their attackers: those who have the ends of their hair cut I will send in flight to all the winds; and I will send their fate on them from every side, says the Lord.

³³And Hazor will be a hole for jackals, a waste for ever: no one will be living in it, and no son of man will have a resting-place there.

³⁴The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, saying,

³⁵This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will have the bow of Elam, their chief strength, broken.

³⁶And I will send on Elam four winds from the four quarters of heaven, driving them out to all those winds; there will be no nation into which the wanderers from Elam do not come.

³⁷And I will let Elam be broken before their haters, and before those who are making designs against their lives: I will send evil on them, even my burning wrath, says the Lord; and I will send the sword after them till I have put an end to them:

³⁸I will put the seat of my power in Elam, and in Elam I will put an end to kings and rulers, says the Lord.

³⁹But it will come about that, in the last days, I will let the fate of Elam be changed, says the Lord.

Jeremiah 49

¹Of the children of Ammon. "Thus says the Lord: 'Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?

²Therefore behold, the days come,' says the Lord, 'that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who possessed him,' says the Lord.

³'Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, clothe yourself in sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

⁴Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You who trusted in her treasures, saying, "Who shall come to me?"

⁵Behold, I will bring a fear on you,' says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, 'from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.

⁶But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon,' says the Lord."

⁷Of Edom. "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?

⁸Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.

⁹If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough?

¹⁰But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more.

¹¹Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.'

¹²For thus says the Lord: 'Behold, they to whom it did not pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.

¹³For I have sworn by myself,' says the Lord, 'that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.'"

¹⁴I have heard news from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle."

¹⁵"For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men.

¹⁶As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there," says the Lord.

¹⁷"Edom shall become an astonishment: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues.

¹⁸As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it," says the Lord, "no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein.

¹⁹Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? And who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who will stand before me?

²⁰Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.

²¹The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.

²²Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs."

²³Of Damascus. "Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can't be quiet.

²⁴Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

²⁵How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?

²⁶Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day," says the Lord of hosts.

²⁷"I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben Hadad."

²⁸Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. "Thus says the Lord: 'Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.'

²⁹Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, 'Terror on every side!'

³⁰Flee, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor," says the Lord; "for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you."

³¹"Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says the Lord; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.

³²Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them," says the Lord.

³³"Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein."

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

³⁵"Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

³⁶On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

³⁷I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,' says the Lord; 'and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them;

³⁸and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes,' says the Lord.

³⁹'But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,' says the Lord."