Jeremiah 30
1 This is the word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:
CONCERNING THE SONS OF AMMON thus says the Lord, Are there no sons in Israel? or have they no one to succeed [them]? therefore has Melchol inherited Galaad, and why shall their people dwell in their cities?
2 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: Write thee all the words that I have spoken to thee, in a book.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will cause to be heard in Rabbath a tumult of wars; and they shall become a waste and ruined place, and her altars shall be burnt with fire; then shall Israel succeed to his dominion.
3 For behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Juda, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
Howl, O Esebon, for Gai has perished; cry, you daughters of Rabbath, gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament; for Melchol shall go into banishment, his priests and his princes together.
4 And these are the words that the Lord hath spoken to Israel and to Juda:
Why do you exult in the plains of the Enakim, you haughty daughter, that trust in [your] treasures, that say, Who shall come in to me?
5 For thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of terror: there is fear and no peace.
Behold, I [will] bring terror upon you, says the Lord, from all the country round about you; and you shall be scattered every one right before him, and there is none to gather you.
6 Ask ye, and see if a man bear children? why then have I seen every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labour, and all faces are turned yellow?
7 Alas, for that day is great, neither is there the like to it; and it Is the time of tribulation to Jacob, but he shall be saved out of it.
8 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst his bands: and strangers shall no more rule over him:
9 But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.
10 Therefore fear thou not, my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed, O Israel: for behold, I will save thee from a country afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity: and Jacob shall return, and be at rest, and abound with all good things, and there shall be none whom he may fear:
11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: for I will utterly consume all the nations, among which I have scattered thee: but I will not utterly consume thee: but I will chastise thee in judgment, that thou mayst not seem to thyself innocent.
12 For thus saith the Lord: Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound is very grievous.
13 There is none to judge thy judgment to bind it up: thou hast no healing medicines.
14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee, and will not seek after thee: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with a cruel chastisement: by reason of the multitude of thy iniquities, thy sins are hardened.
15 Why criest thou for thy affliction? thy sorrow is incurable: for the multitude of thy iniquity, and for thy hardened sins I have done these things to thee.
16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured: and all thy enemies shall be carried into captivity: and they that waste thee shall be wasted, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
17 For I will close up thy scar, and will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord. Because they have called thee, O Sion, an outcast: This is she that hath none to seek after her.
18 Thus saith the Lord: Behold I bring back the captivity of the pavilions of Jacob, and will have pity on his houses, and the city shall be built in her place, and the temple shall be found according to the order thereof.
19 And out of them shall come forth praise, and the voice of them that play: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be made few: and I will glorify them, and they shall not be lessened.
20 And their children shall be as from the beginning, and their assembly be permanent before me: and I will against all that afflict them.
21 And their leader shall be of themselves: and their prince shall come forth from the midst of them: and I will bring him near, and he shall come to me: for who is this that setteth his heart to approach to me, saith the Lord?
22 And you shall be my people: and I will be your God.
23 Behold the whirlwind of the Lord, his fury going forth, a violent storm, it shall rest upon the head of the wicked.
CONCERNING DAMASCUS. Emath is brought to shame, and Arphath: for they have heard an evil report: they are amazed, they are angry, they shall be utterly unable to rest.
24 The Lord will not turn away the wrath of his indignation, till he have executed and performed the thought o his heart: in the latter days you shall understand these things.
Damascus is utterly weakened, she is put to flight; trembling has seized upon her.
How has she not left my city, they have loved the village?
Therefore shall the young men fall in your streets, and all your warriors shall fall, says the Lord.
And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the streets of the son of Ader.
CONCERNING KEDAR THE QUEEN OF THE PALACE, WHOM NABUCHODONOSOR KING OF BABYLON SMOTE, thus says the Lord; Arise you, and go up to Kedar, and fill the sons of Kedem.
They shall take their tents and their sheep, they shall take for themselves their garments, and all their baggage and their camels; and summon you destruction against them from every side.
Flee you, dig very deep for a dwelling-place, you that dwell in the palace; for the king of Babylon has framed a counsel, and devised a device against you.
Rise up, and go up against a nation settled [and] dwelling at ease, who have no doors, nor bolts, nor bars, [who] dwell alone.
And their camels shall be a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle shall be destroyed: and I will scatter them as chaff with every wind, having their hair cut about their foreheads, I will bring on their overthrow from all sides, says the Lord.
And the palace shall be a resting-place for ostriches, and desolate for ever: no man shall abide there, and no son of man shall dwell there.
