Jeremiah 49

A Prophecy Against Ammon—Obadiah 1–5

1 This is what the Lord says about the people of Ammon:Doesn’t Israel have any children? Doesn’t it have any heirs?Why, then, has the god Milcomt taken over the inheritanceof Gad’s descendants?Why do Milcom’s people live in Gad’s cities?2 That is why the days are coming, declares the Lord,when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah,where the people of Ammon live.It will become a pile of rubble.Its villages will be burned down.Then Israel will take possession of its inheritance, says the Lord.3 Cry loudly, Heshbon, because Ai is destroyed.Cry, people of Rabbah, put on your sackcloth, and mourn.Run back and forth between the walls.Milcom will be taken away into captivitywith its priests and officials.4 Why do you brag about your valleys,your fertile valleys, you unfaithful people?You trust your treasures.You think, “Who would attack me?”5 I am going to bring terror on you from all around,declares the Almighty Lord of Armies.Everyone will be scattered.No one will gather the refugees.6 But afterward, I will return the captives of Ammon, declares the Lord.

A Prophecy Against Edom

7 This is what the Lord of Armies says about Edom:Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?Has wisdom disappeared from your people?Has their wisdom vanished?8 Turn and run.Hide in deep caves, inhabitants of Dedan.When I punish them,I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau.9 If people come to pick your grapes,won’t they leave a few grapes behind?If thieves come during the night,won’t they steal only until they’ve had enough?10 Yet, I will strip the descendants of Esau.I will find their hiding places.They won’t be able to hide.Their children and relatives will be destroyed.None of their neighbors will say,11 “Abandon your orphans, and I will keep them alive.Your widows can trust me.”12 This is what the Lord says: If those who don’t deserve to drink from the cup still drink from it, why should you go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished. You must drink from it.

13 I take an oath on myself, declares the Lord, that Bozrah will become a pile of rubble. It will become something horrifying, ridiculed, ruined, and cursed. All its cities will lie in ruins permanently.
14 I heard a message from the Lord.A messenger was sent among the nations to say,“Assemble, and attack Edom.Get ready for battle.”15 “Edom, I will make you the smallest of nationsand despised among humanity.16 You have frightened other people.Your arrogance has deceived you.You live on rocky cliffsand occupy the highest places in the hills.Even though you build your nest as high as an eagle,I will bring you down from there,” declares the Lord.17 “Then Edom will become something horrible.Everyone who passes by it will be horrifiedand hiss at all its wounds.18 Edom will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighboring citieswhen they were destroyed.No one will live there.No human will stay there,” says the Lord.19 “I will suddenly chase them from their placeslike a lion coming out of the junglealong the Jordan River into pastureland.I will appoint over Edom whomever I choose.Who is like me? Who can challenge me?Is there any leader who can stand up to me?”20 Listen to the plans that the Lord is making against Edomand the things he intends to do to those who live in Teman.He will surely drag away the little ones of the flock.He will surely destroy the pasturebecause of the people who live in Teman.21 The earth will quake at the sound of their downfall.The sound of their crying will be heard at the Red Sea.22 The enemy will swoop down like eaglesand spread their wings over Bozrah.On that day Edom’s soldiers will be like women in childbirth.

A Prophecy Against Damascus

23 This is a message about Damascus.“Hamath and Arpad are worried because they heard the bad news.They melt in fear.They are troubled like a sea that can’t be calmed.24 The people of Damascus are weak.They turn to flee, but panic grips them.Anguish and pain grip them like a woman in labor.25 Why isn’t that famous, happy city abandoned?26 That is why its young men will die in the streets,and its soldiers will be silenced that day,”declares the Lord of Armies.27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascusand burn down Benhadad’s palaces.”

A Prophecy Against Kedar and Hazor

28 This is about the tribe of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated. This is what the Lord says:Get ready, attack Kedar,and loot the people from the east.29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken.Their tent curtains, utensils, and camels will be carried away.People will shout to them, “Terror is all around!”30 Run far away! Find a place to hide,inhabitants of Hazor, declares the Lord.King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has made plans against youand intends to attack you.31 Get ready! Attack the nation living peacefully and securely,declares the Lord.It is a nation with no gates or bars.Its people live alone.32 Their camels will be taken as prizes.Their large herds will be taken as loot.I will scatter to the windsthose who shave the hair on their foreheads.I will bring disaster on them from every side,declares the Lord.33 Hazor will be a place where only jackals live.It will become a permanent wasteland.No one will live there.No human will stay there.

A Prophecy Against Elam

34 Early in the rule of King Zedekiah of Judah, the Lord spoke his word to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam.35 This is what the Lord of Armies says:I’m going to break the bows of Elam’s archers,the most important weapon of their strength.36 I’ll bring the four windsfrom the four corners of heaven against Elamand scatter its people in every direction.There won’t be a nationwhere Elam’s refugees won’t go.37 I’ll defeat the people of Elam in the presence of their enemies,in the presence of those who want to kill them.I’ll bring disaster with my burning anger, declares the Lord.I’ll send armies after them until I put an end to them.38 I’ll set my throne in Elam and destroy its king and officials,declares the Lord.39 But afterward, I’ll return the captives of Elam, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 49

Judgment Against Ammon

1 The Lord spoke about the Ammonites.s
“Do you think there are not any people of the nation of Israel remaining?
Do you think there are not any of them remaining to reinherit their land?
Is that why you people who worship the god Milcoms
have taken possession of the territory of Gad and live in his cities?t

2 Because you did that,
I, the Lord, affirm thatt a time is coming
when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,
hear the sound of the battle cry.
It will become a mound covered with ruins.t
Its villages will be burned to the ground.t
Then Israel will take back its land
from those who took their land from them.
I, the Lord, affirm it!t

3 Wail, you people in Heshbon, because Ai in Ammon is destroyed.
Cry out in anguish, you people in the villages surroundingt Rabbah.
Put on sackcloth and cry out in mourning.
Run about covered with gashes.s
For your god Milcom will go into exile
along with his priests and officials.s

4 Why do you brag about your great power?
Your power is ebbing away,t you rebellious people of Ammon,t
who trust in your riches and say,
‘Who would dare to attack us?’

5 I will bring terror on you from every side,”
says the Lord God who rules over all.t
“You will be scattered in every direction.t
No one will gather the fugitives back together.

6 Yet in days to come
I will reverse Ammon’s ill fortune.”t
says the Lord.t

Judgment Against Edom

7 The Lord who rules over allt spoke about Edom.s
“Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman?s
Can Edom’s counselors not give her any good advice?t
Has all of their wisdom turned bad?t

8 Turn and flee! Take up refuge in remote places,t
you people who live in Dedan.s
For I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau.
I have decided it is time for me to punish them.t

9 If grape pickers came to pick your grapes,
would they not leave a few grapes behind?t
If robbers came at night,
would they not pillage only what they needed?t

10 But I will strip everything away from Esau’s descendants.
I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide.
Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed.
Not one of them will be left!

11 Leave your orphans behind and I will keep them alive.
Your widows too can depend on me.”t
12 For the Lord says, “If even those who did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath must drink from it, do you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must certainly drink from the cup of my wrath.ts

13 For I solemnly swear,”t says the Lord, “that Bozrahs will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses.t All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.”

14 I said,t “I have heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,
‘Gather your armies and march out against her!
Prepare to do battle with her!’”t

15 The Lord says to Edom,t
“I will certainly make you small among nations.
I will make you despised by all humankind.

16 The terror you inspire in otherst
and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you.
You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks;
you may occupy the highest places in the hills.t
But even if you made your home where the eagles nest,
I would bring you down from there,”
says the Lord.

17 “Edom will become an object of horror.
All who pass by it will be filled with horror;
they will hiss out their scorn
because of all the disasters that have happened to it.s

18 Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns that were around them.
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord.

19 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordant
scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it.t
So too I will chase the Edomites off their land.t
Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose.t
For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account.t
There is not rulert who can stand up against me.

20 So listen to what I, the Lord, have planned against Edom,
what I intend to do tot the people who live in Teman.s
Their little ones will be dragged off.
I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.t

21 The people of the earth will quake when they hear of their downfall.t
Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba.t

22 Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings,
a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah.
At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearful
as a woman in labor.”s

Judgment Against Damascus

23 The Lord spoket about Damascus.s
“The people of Hamath and Arpadts will be dismayed
because they have heard bad news.
Their courage will melt away because of worry.
Their hearts will not be able to rest.s

24 The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee.
Panic will grip them.
Pain and anguish will seize them
like a woman in labor.

25 How deserted will that once-famous cityt be,
that city that was once filled witht joy!s

26 For her young men will fall in her city squares.
All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”
says the Lord who rules over all.t

27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;
it will burn up the palaces of Ben Hadad.”s

Judgment Against Kedar and Hazor

28 The Lord spoke about Kedars and the kingdoms of Hazors that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered.
“Army of Babylon,t go and attack Kedar.
Lay waste those who live in the eastern desert.s

29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken away.
Their tent curtains, equipment, and camels will be carried off.
People will shoutt to them,
‘Terror is all around you!’”s

30 The Lord says,t “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor.s
Take up refuge in remote places.t
For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.
He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.”t

31 The Lord says,t “Army of Babylon,t go and attack
a nation that lives in peace and security.
They have no gates or walls to protect them.t
They live all alone.

32 Their camels will be taken as plunder.
Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.
I will scatter to the four winds
those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples.t
I will bring disaster against them
from every direction,” says the Lord.t

33 “Hazor will become a permanent wasteland,
a place where only jackals live.s
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it.”s

Judgment Against Elam

34 Early in the reignt of King Zedekiah of Judah, the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam.ts

35 The Lord who rules over all said,
“I will kill all the archers of Elam,
who are the chief source of her military might.t

36 I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction
like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven.
I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds.
There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go.t

37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,
who are seeking to kill them.
I will vent my fierce anger
and bring disaster upon them,”t says the Lord.t
“I will send armies chasing after themt
until I have completely destroyed them.

38 I will establish my sovereignty over Elam.t
I will destroy their king and their leaders,”t says the Lord.t

39 “Yet in days to come
I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.”ts
says the Lord.t