< Jeremiah 49 >

1 About 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?
`Go ye to the sones of Amon. The Lord seith these thingis. Whether no sones ben of Israel, ether an eir is not to it? whi therfor weldide Melchon the eritage of Gad, and the puple therof dwellide in the citees of Gad?
2 Because 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.
Lo! daies comen, seith the Lord, and Y schal make the gnaisting of batel herd on Rabath of the sones of Amon; and it schal be distried in to noise, and the vilagis therof schulen be brent with fier, and Israel schal welde hise welderis, seith the Lord.
3 Make 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.
Yelle ye, Esebon, for Hay is distried; crie, ye douytris of Rabath, girde you with heiris, weile ye, and cumpasse bi heggis; for whi Melchon schal be lad in to passyng ouer, the prestis therof and princes therof togidere.
4 Why 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?
What hast thou glorie in valeis? Thi valeis fleet awei, thou delicat douyter, that haddist trist in thi tresours, and seidist, Who schal come to me?
5 See, 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.
Lo! Y schal bringe in drede on thee, seith the Lord God of oostis, God of Israel, of alle men that ben in thi cumpasse; and ye schulen be scaterid, ech bi hym silf, fro youre siyt, and noon schal be, that gadere hem that fleen.
6 But after these things, I will let the fate of the children of Ammon be changed, says the Lord.
And after these thingis Y schal make the fleeris and prisoneris of the sones of Amon to turne ayen, seith the Lord.
7 About 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?
To Ydumee the Lord God of oostis seith these thingis. Whether wisdom is no more in Theman? Councel perischide fro sones, the wisdom of hem is maad vnprofitable.
8 Go 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.
Fle ye, and turne ye backis; go doun in to a swolowe, ye dwelleris of Dedan, for Y haue brouyt the perdicioun of Esau on hym, the tyme of his visitacioun.
9 If 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?
If gadereris of grapis hadden come on thee, thei schulden haue left a clustre; if theues in the niyt, thei schulden haue rauyschid that that suffiside to hem.
10 I 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.
Forsothe Y haue vnhilid Esau, and Y haue schewid the hid thingis of hym, and he mai not mow be hid; his seed is distried, and hise britheren, and hise neiyboris, and it schal not be.
11 Put in my care your children who have no father, and I will keep them safe; and let your widows put their faith in me.
Forsake thi fadirles children, and Y schal make hem to lyue, and thi widewis schulen hope in me.
12 For 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.
For the Lord seith these thingis, Lo! thei drynkynge schulen drynke, to whiche was no doom, that thei schulden drynke the cuppe. And `schalt thou be left as innocent? thou schalt not be innocent, but thou drynkynge schalt drynke.
13 For 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.
For Y swoor bi my silf, seith the Lord, that Bosra schal be in to wildirnesse, and in to schenschipe, and in to forsakyng, and in to cursyng; and alle the citees therof schulen be in to euerlastynge wildirnessis.
14 Word 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.
I herde an heryng of the Lord, and Y am sent a messanger to hethene men; be ye gaderid togidere, and come ye ayens it, and rise we togidere in to batel.
15 For see, I have made you small among the nations, looked down on by men.
For lo! Y haue youe thee a litil oon among hethene men, despisable among 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.
Thi boost, and the pride of thin herte, hath disseyued thee, that dwellist in the caues of stoon, and enforsist to take the hiynesse of a litil hil; whanne thou as an egle hast reisid thi nest, fro thennus Y schal drawe thee doun, seith the Lord.
17 And 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.
And Ydumee schal be forsakun; ech man that schal passe bi it, schal wondre, and schal hisse on alle the woundis therof;
18 As 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.
as Sodom and Gommor is distried, and the niy citees therof, seith the Lord. A man schal not dwelle there, and the sone of man schal not enhabite it.
19 See, 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?
Lo! as a lioun he schal stie, fro the pride of Jordan to the strong fairnesse; for Y schal make hym renne sudenli to it; and who schal be the chosun man, whom Y schal sette bifore hym? For who is lijk to me, and who schal suffre me? and who is this scheepherde, that schal ayenstonde my cheer?
20 For 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.
Therfor here ye the councel of the Lord, which he took of Edom, and his thouytis, whiche he thouyte of the dwelleris of Theman. If the litle of the floc caste not hem doun, if thei distrien not with hem the dwellyng of hem, ellis no man yyue credence to me.
21 The earth is shaking with the noise of their fall; their cry is sounding in the Red Sea.
The erthe was mouyd of the vois of fallyng of hem; the cry of vois therof was herd in the reed see.
22 See, 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.
Lo! as an egle he schal stie, and fle out, and he schal sprede abrood hise wynges on Bosra; and the herte of the strong men of Idumee schal be in that dai, as the herte of a womman trauelynge of child.
23 About 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.
To Damask. Emath is schent, and Arphath, for thei herden a ful wickid heryng; thei weren disturblid in the see, for angwisch thei miyten not haue reste.
24 Damascus 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.
Damask was discoumfortid, it was turned in to fliyt; tremblyng took it, angwischis and sorewis helden it, as a womman trauelynge of child.
25 How has the town of praise been wasted, the place of joy!
How forsoken thei a preisable citee, the citee of gladnesse?
26 So 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.
Therfor the yonge men therof schulen falle in the stretis therof, and alle men of batel schulen be stille in that dai, seith the Lord of oostis.
27 And I will have a fire lighted on the wall of Damascus, burning up the great houses of Ben-hadad.
And Y schal kyndle fier in the wal of Damask, and it schal deuoure the bildyngis of Benadab.
28 About 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.
To Cedar, and to the rewme of Azor, which Nabugodonosor, kyng of Babiloyne, smoot, the Lord seith these thingis. Rise ye, and stie to Cedar, and distrie ye the sones of the eest.
29 Their 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.
Thei schulen take the tabernaclis of hem, and the flockis of hem; thei schulen take to hem the skynnes of hem, and alle the vessels of hem, and the camels of hem; and thei schulen clepe on hem inward drede in cumpas.
30 Go 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.
Fle ye, go ye awei greetli, ye that dwellen in Asor, sitte in swolewis, seith the Lord. For whi Nabugodonosor, kyng of Babiloyne, hath take councel ayens you, and he thouyte thouytis ayens you.
31 Up! go against a nation which is living in comfort and without fear of danger, says the Lord, without doors or locks, living by themselves.
Rise ye togidere, and stie ye to a pesible folk, and dwellinge tristili, seith the Lord; not doris nether barris ben to it, thei dwellen aloone.
32 And 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.
And the camels of hem schulen be in to rauyschyng, and the multitude of her beestis in to prey; and Y schal schatere hem in to ech wynd, that ben biclippid on the long heer, and bi ech coost of hem Y schal brynge perischyng on hem, seith the Lord.
33 And 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.
And Asor schal be in to a dwellyng place of dragouns; it schal be forsakun `til in to withouten ende; a man schal not dwelle there, nether the sone of man schal enhabite it.
34 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, saying,
The word of the Lord that was maad to Jeremye, the profete, ayens Elam, in the bigynnyng of the rewme of Sedechie,
35 This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will have the bow of Elam, their chief strength, broken.
kyng of Juda, and seide, The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal breke the bowe of Elam, and Y schal take the strengthe of hem.
36 And 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.
And I schal bringe on Elam foure wyndis; fro foure coostis of heuene, and Y schal wyndewe hem in to alle these wyndis, and no folc schal be, to which the fleeris of Elam schulen not come.
37 And 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:
And Y schal make Elam for to drede bifore her enemyes, and in the siyt of men sekynge the lijf of hem; and Y schal brynge on hem yuel, the wraththe of my strong veniaunce, seith the Lord; and Y schal sende after hem a swerd, til Y waste hem.
38 I will put the seat of my power in Elam, and in Elam I will put an end to kings and rulers, says the Lord.
And Y schal sette my kyngis seete in Elam, and Y schal leese therof kyngis, and princes, seith the Lord.
39 But it will come about that, in the last days, I will let the fate of Elam be changed, says the Lord.
But in the laste daies Y schal make the prisoneris of Elam to turne ayen, seith the Lord.

< Jeremiah 49 >