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?
Concerning the sons of Ammon: 'Thus said Jehovah: Sons — hath Israel none? heir — hath he none? Wherefore hath Malcam possessed Gad? And his people in its cities have dwelt?
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.
Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sounded unto Rabbah of the sons of Ammon a shout of battle, And it hath been for a heap — a desolation, And her daughters with fire are burnt, And Israel hath succeeded its heirs, Said hath Jehovah.
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.
Howl, Heshbon, for spoiled is Ai, Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth, Lament, and go to and fro by the hedges, For Malcam into captivity doth go, His priests and his princes together.
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 — dost thou boast thyself in valleys? Flowed hath thy valley, O backsliding daughter, Who is trusting in her treasures: Who doth come in unto 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, I am bringing in upon thee a fear, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, From all round about thee, And ye have been driven out each before it, And there is no gatherer of the wandering.
6 But after these things, I will let the fate of the children of Ammon be changed, says the Lord.
And after this I turn back the captivity of the sons of Ammon, An affirmation of Jehovah.'
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?
Concerning Edom: 'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Perished hath counsel from the intelligent? Vanished hath their wisdom?
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.
Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, ye inhabitants of Dedan, For the calamity of Esau I brought in upon him, The time I inspected him.
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 gatherers have come in to thee, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency!
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.
For I — I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And to be hidden he is not able, Spoiled [is] his seed, and his brethren, And his neighbours, and he is not.
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.
Leave thine orphans — I do keep alive, And thy widows — on Me trust ye,
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 thus said Jehovah: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And thou [art] he that is entirely acquitted! Thou art not acquitted, for thou certainly drinkest.
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, by Myself, I have sworn, An affirmation of Jehovah, That for a desolation, for a reproach, For a waste, and for a reviling — is Bozrah, And all her cities are for wastes age-during.
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.
A report I have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations is sent, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise ye for battle.
15 For see, I have made you small among the nations, looked down on by men.
For, lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised 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.
Thy terribleness hath lifted thee up, The pride of thy heart, O dweller in clefts of the rock, Holding the high place of the height, For thou makest high as an eagle thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah.
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 Edom hath been for a desolation, Every passer by her is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues.
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 the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbours, said Jehovah, No one doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.
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 lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? concerning her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? and who conveneth Me? And who [is] this shepherd who standeth before Me?
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.
Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He hath counselled concerning Edom, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Make desolate over them doth he not their habitation?
21 The earth is shaking with the noise of their fall; their cry is sounding in the Red Sea.
From the noise of their fall hath the earth shaken, The cry — at the sea of Suph is its voice heard.
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 eagle he cometh up, and flieth, And he spreadeth his wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom hath been in that day, As the heart of a distressed woman!'
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.
Concerning Damascus: Ashamed hath been Hamath and Arpad, For an evil report they have heard, They have been melted, in the sea [is] sorrow, To be quiet it is not able.
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.
Feeble hath been Damascus, She turned to flee, and fear strengthened her, Distress and pangs have seized her, as a travailing woman.
25 How has the town of praise been wasted, the place of joy!
How is it not left — the city of praise, The city of my joy!
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.
Therefore fall do her young men in her broad places, And all the men of war are cut off in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.
27 And I will have a fire lighted on the wall of Damascus, burning up the great houses of Ben-hadad.
And I have kindled a fire against the wall of Damascus, And it consumed palaces of Ben-Hadad!'
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.
Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten: 'Thus said Jehovah: Arise ye, go ye up unto Kedar, And spoil the sons of the east.
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.
Their tents and their flock they do take, Their curtains, and all their vessels, And their camels, they bear away for themselves, And they called concerning them, Fear [is] round about.
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.
Flee, bemoan mightily, go deep to dwell, Ye inhabitants of Hazor — an affirmation of Jehovah, For given counsel against you hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Yea, he deviseth against them a device.
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, go up unto a nation at rest, Dwelling confidently, an affirmation of Jehovah, It hath no two-leaved doors nor bar, Alone they do dwell.
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 their camels have been for a prey, And the multitude of their cattle for a spoil, And I have scattered them to every wind, Who cut off the corner [of the beard], And from all its passages I bring in their calamity, An affirmation of Jehovah.
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 Hazor hath been for a habitation of dragons, A desolation — unto the age, No one doth dwell there, nor sojourn in it doth a son of man!'
34 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, saying,
That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
35 This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will have the bow of Elam, their chief strength, broken.
'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning of their might.
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 have brought in to Elam four winds, From the four ends of the heavens, And have scattered them to all these winds, And there is no nation whither outcasts of Elam come not in.
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 I have affrighted Elam before their enemies, And before those seeking their life, And I have brought in against them evil, The heat of Mine anger, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent after them the sword, Till I have consumed them;
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 I have set My throne in Elam, And I have destroyed thence King and princes — an affirmation of Jehovah.
39 But it will come about that, in the last days, I will let the fate of Elam be changed, says the Lord.
And it hath come to pass, in the latter end of the days, I turn back [to] the captivity of Elam, An affirmation of Jehovah!'
