Jeremiah 49

¹Against the sons of Ammon. Thus says the Lord: “Does Israel have no sons? Or is there no heir for him? Then why has Milcom possessed the inheritance of Gad, and why have his people lived in his cities?

²Therefore, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will cause the noise of battle to be heard over Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. And it will be scattered into a tumult, and her daughters will be burned with fire. And Israel shall possess those who had possessed him, says the Lord.

³Wail, O Heshbon! For Ai has been devastated. Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Wrap yourselves with haircloth. Mourn and circle the hedges. For Milcom will be led into the transmigration: his priests and his leaders together.

⁴Why have you gloried in the valleys? Your valley has flowed away, O delicate daughter, for you had confidence in your treasures, and you were saying, ‘Who can approach me?’

⁵Behold, I will lead a terror over you, says the Lord, the God of hosts, from those who are all around you. And you will be dispersed, each one from before your sight. There will be no one who will gather together those who are fleeing.

⁶And after this, I will cause the captives of the sons of Ammon to return, says the Lord.”

⁷Against Idumea. Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Counsel has perished from the sons. Their wisdom has become useless.

⁸Flee and turn your backs! Descend into the chasm, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I have brought the perdition of Esau over him, the time of his visitation.

⁹If those who gather grapes had passed by you, would they not have left behind a cluster? If there were thieves in the night, they would seize what was enough for themselves.

¹⁰Yet truly, I have stripped Esau bare. I have revealed his secrets, and he is not able to be concealed. His offspring has been devastated, with his brothers and his neighbors, and he himself will not exist.

¹¹Leave behind your orphans. I will make sure that they live. And your widows will hope in me.”

¹²For thus says the Lord: “Behold, those who judged that they would not drink the cup, will certainly drink. And so, will you be released as if you were innocent? You will not be released as if innocent. Instead, you shall certainly drink.

¹³For I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will be a desolation, and a disgrace, and a wasteland, and a curse. And all her cities will be a perpetual wilderness.

¹⁴I have heard a report from the Lord, and a legate has been sent to the nations: ‘Gather yourselves together, and go forth against her, and let us rise up to battle.’

¹⁵For behold, I have made you little among the nations, contemptible among men.

¹⁶Your arrogance has deceived you, by the pride of your heart, you who live in the caverns of the rock and who strive to take hold of the height of the hill. But even if you make your nest like that of an eagle, I will pull you down from there, says the Lord.

¹⁷And Idumea will be a desert. Everyone who passes by it will be stupefied and will hiss over all its wounds.

¹⁸Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were overthrown, says the Lord: there will not be a man living there, and no son of man will tend it.

¹⁹Behold, he will ascend like a lion from the arrogance of the Jordan, against the robust beauty. For I will cause him to rush against her suddenly. And who will be the elect one, whom I may appoint over her? For who is like me? And who can endure me? And who is that pastor who can withstand my countenance?

²⁰Because of this, listen to the counsel of the Lord, which he has undertaken concerning Edom, and to his thoughts, which he has devised concerning the inhabitants of Teman. Certainly, the little ones of the flock will cast them down, unless they scatter them with their habitation.

²¹The earth has been shaken at the noise of their destruction. The outcry of their voice has been heard at the Red Sea.

²²Behold, he will ascend like an eagle and will fly. And he will spread his wings over Bozrah. And in that day, the heart of the strong ones of Idumea will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.”

²³Against Damascus. “Hamath has been confounded, with Arpad. For they have heard a most grievous report. They have been stirred up like the sea. Because of anxiousness, they were not able to rest.

²⁴Damascus has been broken. She has been turned to flight. Trembling has taken hold of her. Anguish and sorrows have seized her, like a woman giving birth.

²⁵How could they have abandoned the praiseworthy city, the city of rejoicing?

²⁶For this reason, her young men will fall in her streets. And all the men of battle will be silenced in that day, says the Lord of hosts.

²⁷And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the defensive walls of Ben-hadad.”

²⁸Against Kedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has struck down. Thus says the Lord: “Rise up and ascend to Kedar, and lay waste to the sons of the East.

²⁹They will seize their tabernacles and their flocks. And they will take for themselves their tents, and all their vessels, and their camels. And they will call down a terror upon them on every side.

³⁰Flee, go away urgently! Sit in deep pits, you who inhabit Hazor, says the Lord. For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has undertaken a counsel against you, and he has devised plans against you.

³¹Rise up, and ascend to a nation that is quiet and lives in confidence, says the Lord. They have neither gates nor bars. They dwell alone.

³²And their camels will be a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle will be a prey. And I will disperse, into every wind, those who have shaved their hair. And from all their confines, I will lead great destruction over them, says the Lord.

³³And Hazor will be a habitation for serpents, deserted even unto eternity. No man will abide there, nor will a son of man tend it.”

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

³⁵“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, and the summit of their strength.

³⁶And I will lead the four winds over Elam, from the four corners of heaven. And I will scatter them into all these winds. And there will be no nation to which the fugitives of Elam will not travel.

³⁷And I will cause Elam to be terrified before their enemies and in the sight of those who seek their life. And I will lead an evil over them, the wrath of my fury, says the Lord. And I will send the sword after them, until I consume them.

³⁸And I will set my throne in Elam, and I will perish the kings and princes from there, says the Lord.

³⁹But in the last days, I will cause the captives of Elam to return, says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 49

¹Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?

²Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord.

³Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.

⁴Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?

⁵Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.

⁶And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the Lord.

⁷Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

⁸Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.

⁹If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have 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 spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

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

¹²For thus saith the Lord; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

¹³For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.

¹⁴I have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

¹⁵For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.

¹⁶Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord.

¹⁷Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.

¹⁸As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

¹⁹Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

²⁰Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.

²¹The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.

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

²³Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.

²⁴Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

²⁵How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!

²⁶Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord of hosts.

²⁷And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben–hadad.

²⁸Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the Lord; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.

²⁹Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side.

³⁰Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the Lord; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.

³¹Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the Lord, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.

³²And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the Lord.

³³And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.

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

³⁵Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

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

³⁷For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:

³⁸And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the Lord.

³⁹But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord.