Jeremiah 49
1 Unto the children of Ammon thus saith the Lord, Hath Israel no sonnes? or hath he none heire? Why then hath their king possessed God? and his people dwelt in his cities?
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?
2 Therefore beholde the dayes come, sayeth the Lord, that I will cause a noyse of warre to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites, and it shall be a desolate heape, and her daughters shall be burnt with fire: then shall Israel possesse those that possessed him, sayeth the Lord.
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.
3 Howle, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted: crie ye daughters of Rabbah: girde you with sackecloth: mourne and runne to and from by the hedges: for their King shall goe into captiuitie; and his Priestes, and his princes likewise.
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.
4 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleis? thy valley floweth away, O rebellious daughter: she trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come vnto me?
Why do you boast that your valleys are so productive, you unfaithful people? You trust in your wealth, saying, “Who would dare attack us?”
5 Beholde, I will bring a feare vpon thee, sayth the Lord God of hostes, of all those that be about thee, and ye shalbe scattered euery man right foorth, and none shall gather him that fleeth.
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.
6 And afterward I will bring againe the captiuitie of the children of Ammon.
However, later on I will bring you Ammonites back from exile, declares the Lord.
7 To Edom thus sayeth the Lord of hostes: Is wisdome no more in Teman? is counsel perished from their children? is their wisdome vanished?
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?
8 Flee, ye inhabitants of Dedan (they are turned backe, and haue consulted to dwell) for I haue brought the destruction of Esau vpon him, and the time of his visitation.
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.
9 If the grape gatherers come to thee, would they not leaue some grapes? if theeues come by night, they will destroy till they haue ynough.
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?
10 For I haue discouered Esau: I haue vncouered his secrets, and he shall not be able to hide himselfe: his seede is wasted, and his brethren and his neighbours, and there shall be none to say,
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.
11 Leaue thy fathers children, and I will preserue them aliue, and let thy widowes trust in me.
However, you can leave your orphans to me because I will protect them. Have your widows put their trust in me.
12 For thus sayth the Lord, Beholde, they whose iudgement was not to drinke of the cuppe, haue assuredly drunken, and art thou he that shall escape free? thou shalt not goe free, but thou shalt surely drinke of it.
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.
13 For I haue sworne by my selfe, sayeth the Lord, that Bozrah shall be waste, and for a reproche, and a desolation, and a curse, and all the cities thereof shall be perpetuall desolations.
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.
14 I haue heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassadour is sent vnto the heathen, saying, Gather you together, and come against her, and rise vp to the battell.
I received this message from the Lord. He has sent a messenger to the nations: Get yourselves ready to attack Edom! Prepare for battle!
15 For loe, I will make thee but small among the heathen, and despised among men.
Watch as I will make you insignificant compared to other nations—everyone will look down on you.
16 Thy feare, and ye pride of thine heart hath deceiued thee, thou that dwellest in the cleftes of the rocke, and keepest the height of ye hil: though thou shouldest make thy nest as hie as the eagle, I wil bring thee downe from thece, sayth the Lord.
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.
17 Also Edom shall be desolate: euery one that goeth by it, shall be astonished, and shall hisse at all the plagues thereof,
People will be horrified at what's happened to Edom. Everyone passing by will be shocked, and will sneer at all its damage.
18 As in the ouerthrowe of Sodom, and of Gomorah, and the places thereof neere about, saieth the Lord: no man shall dwell there, neither shall the sonnes of men remaine in it.
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, along with their neighboring towns, says the Lord, nobody will live there—they will become uninhabited.
19 Beholde, hee shall come vp like a lyon from the swelling of Iorden vnto the strong dwelling place: for I will make Israel to rest, euen I will make him to haste away from her, and who is a chosen man that I may appoynt against her? for who is like mee? and who will appoint me the time? and who is the shepheard that will stande before me?
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?
20 Therefore heare the counsell of the Lord that hee hath deuised against Edom, and his purpose that hee hath conceiued against the inhabitants of Teman: surely the least of the flocke shall drawe them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
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.
21 The earth is mooued at the noyse of their fall: the crie of their voice is heard in the red Sea.
When they fall, the sound they make will make the earth shake; their cries will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.
22 Behold, he shall come vp, and flie as the Egle, and spreade his wings ouer Bozrah, and at that day shall the heart of the strong men of Edome be as the heart of a woman in trauaile.
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.
23 Vnto Damascus he sayeth, Hamath is confounded and Arpad, for they haue heard euill tidings, and they are faint hearted as one on the fearefull sea that can not rest.
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.
24 Damascus is discouraged, and turneth her selfe to flight and feare hath seased her: anguish and sorowes haue taken her as a woman in trauaile.
The people of Damascus are demoralized—they turn and run away in panic, overcome by pain and anguish like a woman in labor.
25 How is the glorious citie not reserued, the citie of my ioy?
Why isn't the city that is praised deserted, the city that made me happy?
26 Therefore her yong men shall fall in her streetes, and all her men of warre shall be cut off in that day, sayeth the Lord of hostes.
For on that day its young men will die in its streets, all its defenders will be killed, declares the Lord of Hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, which shall cosume the palaces of Benhadad.
I'm going to set fire to the walls of Damascus; that will burn down the fortresses of Ben-hadad.
28 Vnto Kedar, and to the kingdomes of Hazor, which Nebuchad-nezzar, king of Babel shall smite, thus sayeth the Lord, Arise, and goe vp vnto Kedar, and destroy the men of the East.
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!
29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: yea, they shall take to themselues their curtaines and all their vessels, and their camels, and they shall crie vnto them, Feare is on euery side.
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!”
30 Flee, get you farre off (they haue consulted to dwell) O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the Lord: for Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel hath taken counsell against you, and hath deuised a purpose against you.
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.
31 Arise, and get you vp vnto the welthy nation that dwelleth without care, saith the Lord, which haue neither gates nor barres, but dwel alone.
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.
32 And their camels shall be a bootie, and the multitude of their cattel a spoile, and I will scatter them into all windes, and to the vtmost corners, and I will bring their destruction from al the sides thereof, sayeth the Lord.
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.
33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and desolation for euer: there shall no man dwell there, nor the sonnes of men remaine in it.
Hazor will become a place where jackals live, a place abandoned forever. No one will live there; it will become uninhabited.
34 The woordes of the Lord that came to Ieremiah the Prophet, concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reigne of Zedekiah King of Iudah, saying,
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.
35 Thus sayeth the Lord of hostes, Beholde, I will breake the bowe of Elam, euen the chiefe of their strength.
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.
36 And vpon Elam I will bring the foure windes from the foure quarters of heauen, and will scatter them towardes all these windes, and there shall bee no nation, whither the fugitiues of Elam shall not come.
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.
37 For I will cause Elam to be afraied before their enemies, and before them that seeke their liues, and will bring vpon them a plague, euen the indignation of my wrath, saieth the Lord, and I wil sende the sworde after them till I haue consumed them.
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.
38 And I wil set my throne in Elam, and I wil destroy both the King and the princes from thence, saith the Lord:
I will set up my throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials, declares the Lord.
39 but in the latter daies I wil bring againe the captiuitie of Elam, sayeth the Lord.
However, later on I will bring the Elamites back from exile, declares the Lord.
