Jeremiah 49

1 Of the children of Ammon. Thus saith Jehovah: Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth Malcam possess Gad, and his people well in the cities thereof?2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, 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 them that did possess him, saith Jehovah.3 Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run to and fro among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.4 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, from all that are round about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.6 But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith Jehovah.7 Of Edom. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?8 Flee ye, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him.9 If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had enough?10 But 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 brethren, and his neighbors; and he is not.11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.12 For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, they to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink.13 For I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.14 I have heard tidings from Jehovah, 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 thee small among the nations, and despised among men.16 As for thy terribleness, the pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, 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 Jehovah.17 And Edom shall become an astonishment: every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.19 Behold, 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 whoso 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 that will stand before me?20 Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.21 The earth trembleth at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is heard in the Red Sea.22 Behold, 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.23 Of Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil tidings, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.24 Damascus is waxed feeble, she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.25 How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts.27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.28 Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote. Thus saith Jehovah: Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.29 Their 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 unto them, Terror on every side!30 Flee ye, wander far off, dwell in the depths, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith Jehovah; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.31 Arise, get you up unto a nation that is at ease, that dwelleth without care, saith Jehovah; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.32 And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter unto all winds them that have the corners of their hair cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, saith Jehovah.33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation for ever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.34 The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,35 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.36 And 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.37 And 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 Jehovah; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them;38 and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence king and princes, saith Jehovah.39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, saith Jehovah.

JEREMIAH 49

What the [Lord] Says //about Ammon

1  t The [Lord] has this to say about the nation of Ammon:
The people of Israel
have plenty of children
to inherit their lands.
So why have you worshipers
of the god Milcomt
taken over towns and land
belonging to the tribe of Gad?

2 Someday I will send an army
to attack you in Rabbah,
your capital city.
It will be left in ruins,
and the surrounding villages
will lie in ashes.
You took some of Israel's land,
but on that day
Israel will take yours!

3 Cry, people of Heshbon;t
your town will become
a pile of rubble.t
You will turn here and there,
but your path will be blocked.t
Put on sackclotht and mourn,
you citizens of Rabbah,
because the idol you worshipt
will be taken
to a foreign country,
along with its priests
and temple officials.

4 You rebellious Ammonites
trust your wealth and ask,
“Who could attack us?”
But I warn you not to boast
when your strength is fading.t

5 I, the [Lord] All-Powerful,
will send neighboring nations
to strike you with terror.
You will be scattered,
with no one to care
for your refugees.

6 Yet someday, I will bring
your people back home.
I, the [Lord], have spoken.

What the [Lord] Says //about Edom

7  t t The [Lord] All-Powerful says about Edom:
Wisdom and common sense
have vanished from Teman.t

8 I will send disaster to punish
you descendants of Esau, t
so anyone from Dedant
had better turn around
and run back home.t

9 People who harvest grapes
leave some for the poor.
Thieves who break in at night
take only what they want.

10 But I will take everything
that belongs to you,
people of Edom,
and I will uncover every place
where you try to hide.
Then you will die,
and so will your children,
relatives, and neighbors.

11 But I can be trusted
to care for your orphans
and widows.
12 Even those nations that don't deserve to be punished will have to drink from the cup of my anger. So how can you possibly hope to escape?

13 I, the [Lord], swear in my own name that your city of Bozraht and all your towns will suffer a horrible fate. They will lie in ruins forever, and people will use the name “Bozrah” as a curse word.

14 I have sent a messenger
to command the nations
to prepare for war
against you people of Edom.

15 Your nation will be small,
yet hated by other nations.

16 Pride tricks you into thinking
that other nations
look at you with fear.t
You live along the cliffs
and high in the mountains
like the eagles,
but I am the [Lord],
and I will bring you down.

17 People passing by your country
will be shocked and horrified
to see a disaster

18  t as bad as the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah
and towns nearby.
The towns of Edom will be empty.

19  t I, the [Lord], will attack you
like a lion from the forest,
attacking sheep in a meadow
along the Jordan.
In a moment the flock runs,
and the land is empty.
Who will I choose to attack you?
I will do it myself!
No one can force me to fight
or chase me away.

20 Listen to my plans for you,
people of Edom.t
Your children will be dragged off
and your country destroyed.

21 The sounds of your destruction
will reach the Red Seat
and cause the earth to shake.

22 An enemy will swoop down
to attack you,
like an eagle spreading its wings
and circling over Bozrah.
Your warriors will be as fearful
as women giving birth.t

What the [Lord] Says //about Damascus

23  t The [Lord] says about Damascus:
The towns of Hamath and Arpadt
have heard your bad news.
They have lost hope,
and worries roll over them
like ocean waves.t

24 You people of Damascus
have lost your courage,
and in panic you turn to run,
gripped by fear and pain.t

25 Once I was pleased
with your famous city.
But now I warn you, “Escape
while you still can!”t

26 Soon, even your best soldiers
will lie dead in your streets.
I, the [Lord] All-Powerful,
have spoken.

27 I will set fire to your city walls
and burn down the fortresses
King Benhadad built.

Nebuchadnezzar //and the People //of the Desert

28 Here is what the [Lord] says about the Kedar tribe and the desert villagest that were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzart of Babylonia:
Listen, you people of Kedar
and the other tribes
of the eastern desert.
I have told Nebuchadnezzar
to attack and destroy you.

29 His fearsome army
will surround you,
taking your tents and possessions,
your sheep and camels.

30 Run and hide,
you people of the desert
who live in villages!t
Nebuchadnezzar has big plans
for you.

31 You have no city walls
and no neighbors to help,
yet you think you're safe—
so I told him to attack.

32 Then your camels
and large herds
will be yours no longer.
People of the Arabian Desert, t
disaster will strike you
from every side,
and you will be scattered
everywhere on earth.

33 Only jackalst will live
where your villagest once stood.
I, the [Lord], have spoken.

What the [Lord] Says about Elam

34-35 Not long after Zedekiaht became king of Judah, the [Lord] told me to say:
People of Elam, t
I, the [Lord] All-Powerful,
will kill the archers
who make your army strong.

36 Enemies will attack
from all directions,
and you will be led captive
to every nation on earth.

37 Their armies will crush
and kill you,
and you will face the disaster
that my anger brings.

38 Your king and his officials
will die, and I will rule
in their place.
I, the [Lord], have spoken.

39 But I promise that someday
I will bring your people
back to their land.