Jeremiah 49
1 This is what the Lord says about the Ammonites: Don't the Israelites have any children? Don't they have heirs to inherit their property? So why has Milcom taken over the territory belonging to the tribe of Gad? Why are his people living in their towns?
Against the children of 'Ammon, Thus hath said the Lord, Hath Israel no sons? or hath he no heir? why then doth Malcolm possess Gad, and why do his people dwell in his cities?
2 Watch out! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will signal the attack on the Ammonite town of Rabbah. It will be turned into a pile of ruins, and its villages will be burned down. Then the Israelites will drive out the people who took over their land, says the Lord.
Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the children of 'Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and its villages shall be burnt with fire: then shall Israel drive out those that drove them out, saith the Lord.
3 Weep, people of Heshbon, for the town of Ai has been destroyed. Cry for help, people of Rabbah! Put on clothes made of sackcloth and start mourning; run to and fro inside your city walls, because your god Milcom will go into exile along with his priests and leaders.
Wail, O Cheshbon, for 'Ai is wasted; cry aloud, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird yourselves with sackcloth; lament, and roam about among the sheepfolds; for Malcolm shall go into exile, [with] his priest and his princes together.
4 Why do you boast that your valleys are so productive, you unfaithful people? You trust in your wealth, saying, “Who would dare attack us?”
Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys? thy valley floweth [with blood], O backsliding daughter, that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who can come unto me?
5 Watch out! I'm going to bring the surrounding nations to terrorize you, declares the Lord God Almighty. You will all be driven out and scattered, and no one will be able to gather you refugees together again.
Behold, I will bring terror upon thee, saith the Lord the Eternal of hosts, from all those that are around thee: and ye shall be driven out every man in his own way; and none shall gather up the fugitive.
6 However, later on I will bring you Ammonites back from exile, declares the Lord.
And afterward will I bring back again the captivity of the children of 'Ammon, saith the Lord.
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says about Edom: Aren't there any wise people left in Teman? Isn't there any good advice from those with insight? Has their wisdom rotted away?
Concerning Edom, thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Is there no more wisdom in Theman? is counsel vanished from the prudent? is their wisdom become corrupt?
8 Turn and run away! Find somewhere to hide, people of Dedan, because I'm bringing disaster down on you descendants of Esau when I punish you.
They flee, turn round, seek their abode in deep places, — the inhabitants of Dedan; for the calamity of Esau do I bring upon him, the time when I visit him with punishment.
9 If people harvesting grapes came to you, they'd leave some behind, wouldn't they? If thieves came during the night, they'd only steal what they wanted, wouldn't they?
If grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left some gleanings? if thieves by night, they would destroy only till they had satisfied themselves;
10 But I'm going to strip the whole country of bare, leaving its people with nowhere to hide. All of Esau's descendants will be destroyed, along with their relatives and friends—they will all be gone.
But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret haunts, so that he will not be able to hide himself: his seed is wasted, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is no more.
11 However, you can leave your orphans to me because I will protect them. Have your widows put their trust in me.
Leave thy fatherless children, I will have to preserve them alive: and thy widows must trust in me.
12 This is what the Lord says: If those who were not required to drink from the cup of judgment had to do so, how could you not be punished yourselves? You won't go unpunished, because you have to drink it too.
For thus hath said the Lord, Behold, they whose right it was not to drink the cup have been compelled to drink it, and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink it.
13 I made myself a solemn promise, declares the Lord, that the town of Bozrah will become a place that horrifies people, a complete humiliation, a pile of ruins, and a name that's used as a curse word. All its surrounding towns will also be left in ruins forever.
For by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse; and all its cities shall become perpetual ruins.
14 I received this message from the Lord. He has sent a messenger to the nations: Get yourselves ready to attack Edom! Prepare for battle!
A report have I heard from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying, ] Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
15 Watch as I will make you insignificant compared to other nations—everyone will look down on you.
For, lo, I render thee small among the nations, despised among men.
16 The fear you once created in others, and your pride in yourselves, has fooled you into overconfidence, you people living on the rocky mountain tops. Though you make your homes high out of reach like an eagle's nest, I will tear you down, even from there, declares the Lord.
Thy hastiness hath deceived thee, the presumption of thy heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldst make thy nest as high as the eagle, thence would I bring thee down, saith the Lord.
17 People will be horrified at what's happened to Edom. Everyone passing by will be shocked, and will sneer at all its damage.
And Edom shall become [an object of] astonishment: every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its wounds.
18 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, along with their neighboring towns, says the Lord, nobody will live there—they will become uninhabited.
Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, saith the Lord, so shall no man dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn therein.
19 Watch out! I'm going to come like a lion from the tangled undergrowth beside the Jordan to attack the animals grazing the green pasture. In fact I'm going to chase the Edomites from their land very quickly. Who will I choose to conquer them? Who is like me? Who can challenge me? Which leader could oppose me?
Behold, like a lion will he come up from the overflow of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will hasten him, [and] make him suddenly prevail against her; and him who is chosen will I array against her; for who is like me? and who will challenge me to battle? and who is that shepherd that can stand before me?
20 So listen to what the Lord has planned to do to Edom and the people of Teman: Their children will be dragged away like lambs from the flock, and because of them their pasture will become a wasteland.
Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he hath resolved against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath devised against the inhabitants of Theman: Surely the least of the flocks shall drag them away; surely he will devastate over them their habitation.
21 When they fall, the sound they make will make the earth shake; their cries will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.
At the noise of their fall the earth quaketh: [there is] an outcry, —at the Red Sea their voice is heard.
22 Watch as an enemy like an eagle flies high, then swoops down, spreading its wings as it attacks Bozrah. At that time Edom's warriors will be as scared as a woman in labor.
Behold, like the eagle shall he come up and fly along, and spread out his wings over Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be on that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23 A prophecy about Damascus: The towns of Hamath and Arpad are disturbed, because they've received bad news. They are fearful, restless like the sea. Nothing can calm their worries.
Concerning Damascus. Chamath and Arpad are made ashamed; for evil tidings have they heard, they are fainthearted: on the sea there is care, it is not able to be quiet.
24 The people of Damascus are demoralized—they turn and run away in panic, overcome by pain and anguish like a woman in labor.
Damascus is become feeble, she turneth about to flee, and trembling hath taken hold on her: pangs and throes have seized her, as a woman in travail.
25 Why isn't the city that is praised deserted, the city that made me happy?
“How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town of my joy!”
26 For on that day its young men will die in its streets, all its defenders will be killed, declares the Lord of Hosts.
Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall perish on that day, saith the Lord of hosts.
27 I'm going to set fire to the walls of Damascus; that will burn down the fortresses of Ben-hadad.
And I will kindle a fire on the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.
28 A prophecy about the land of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that were attacked by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This is what the Lord says: Go and attack Kedar; destroy the people of the east!
Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Chazor, which Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon smote, thus hath said the Lord, Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and devastate the men of the east.
29 Take their tents and their flocks! Carry off their tent curtains and all their possessions! Take their camels for yourselves. Shout out to them: “Terror is everywhere!”
Their tents and their flocks shall they take away; their curtains, and all their vessels and their camels shall they take to themselves: and they shall call out over them, Terror is on every side.
30 Run! Get away as far as you can! Find somewhere to hide, people of Hazor, declares the Lord. For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made plans to attack and destroy you.
Flee, fly away far off, seek your abode in deep places, O ye inhabitants of Chazor, saith the Lord; for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a device against you.
31 Go and attack that self-satisfied nation that thinks it's safe, declares the Lord. They don't have any barred gates and have no allies.
Arise, get you up unto the nation that is at ease, that dwelleth in security, saith the Lord, which hath neither gates nor bars, which dwelleth alone.
32 Their camels and large herds will be plunder for you. I will scatter them everywhere, these desert people who trim their hair on the sides of their heads. I will bring disaster down on them from all directions, declares the Lord.
And their camels shall become a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter unto all winds those that have the hair cut round; and from all sides will I bring their calamity, saith the Lord.
33 Hazor will become a place where jackals live, a place abandoned forever. No one will live there; it will become uninhabited.
And Chazor shall become a dwelling for monsters, a desolation for ever: there shall no man dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn therein.
34 This is the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam. This was at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning 'Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, saying,
35 This is what the Lord Almighty says: Look! I'm going to smash the bows of the Elamites, the weapon they rely on for their power.
Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow of 'Elam, the chief of their strength.
36 I will bring winds from all directions to attack Elam, and I will scatter them in all directions. There won't be a nation that doesn't have some of Elam's exiles.
And I will bring over 'Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the heavens, and I will scatter them toward all these winds: and there shall not be any nation whither shall not come the outcasts of 'Elam.
37 I will smash the Elamites in front of their enemies, before those who want to kill them. In my furious anger I will bring disaster down on them, declares the Lord. I will chase them down with the sword until I have destroyed them.
For I will cause 'Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those that seek their life: and I will bring over them evil, the fierceness of my anger, saith the Lord: and I will send out after them the sword, till I have made an end of them.
38 I will set up my throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials, declares the Lord.
And I will set up my throne in 'Elam, and I will destroy thence king and princes, saith the Lord.
39 However, later on I will bring the Elamites back from exile, declares the Lord.
But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring back again the captivity of 'Elam, saith the Lord.
