Jeremiah 49

1 Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Is he without heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad? Why have his people settled in their cities?

Concerning the sons of Ammon. Thus says Jehovah: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?

2 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.

Therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire. Then Israel shall possess those who possessed him, says Jehovah.

3 Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; run back and forth within your walls, for Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste. Cry, ye daughters of Rabbah. Gird you with sackcloth. Lament, and run to and fro among the fences. For Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his rulers together.

4 Why do you boast of your valleys— your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’

Why do thou glory in the valleys, thy flowing valley? O backsliding daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come to me?

5 Behold, I am about to bring terror upon you, declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, from all those around you. You will each be driven headlong, with no one to regather the fugitives.

Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, says the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, from all who are round about thee. And ye shall be driven out every man straight forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.

6 Yet afterward I will restore the Ammonites from captivity,” declares the LORD.

But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the sons of Ammon, says Jehovah.

7 Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?

Of Edom. Thus says Jehovah of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?

8 Turn and run! Lie low, O dwellers of Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.

Flee ye, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan. For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him.

9 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? Were thieves to come in the night, would they not steal only what they wanted?

If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had enough?

10 But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, and he will be unable to conceal himself. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors, and he will be no more.

But I have made Esau bare. I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself. His seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors, and he is not.

11 Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”

Leave thy fatherless sons; I will preserve them alive. And let thy widows trust in me.

12 For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.

For thus says Jehovah: Behold, those to whom it did not pertain to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink. And are thou he who shall go altogether unpunished? Thou shall not go unpunished, but thou shall surely drink.

13 For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”

For I have sworn by myself, says Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse, and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.

14 I have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy has been sent to the nations: “Assemble yourselves to march against her! Rise up for battle!”

I have heard news from Jehovah. And an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

15 “For behold, I will make you small among nations, despised among men.

For, behold, I have made thee small among the nations, and despised among men.

16 The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,”

As for thy formidableness, the pride of thy heart has deceived thee, O thou who dwells in the clefts of the rock, who holds the height of the hill. Though thou should make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from there, says Jehovah.

17 “Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.

And Edom shall become an astonishment. Everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues of it.

18 As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.

As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says Jehovah, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man sojourn in it.

19 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation. For I will suddenly make them run away from it. And he who is chosen, him I will appoint over it. For who is like me, and who will appoint a time for me, and who is the shepherd who will stand before me?

20 Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.

Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah that he has taken against Edom, and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.

21 At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; their cry will resound to the Red Sea.

The earth trembles at the noise of their fall. There is a cry; the noise of it is heard in the Red Sea.

22 Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah. And the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

23 Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.

Of Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad, for they have heard evil news. They are melted away. There is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.

24 Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee. Panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her like a woman in labor.

Damascus has grown feeble. She turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

25 How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town that brings Me joy?

How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?

26 For her young men will fall in the streets, and all her warriors will be silenced in that day,”

Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Jehovah of hosts.

27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-hadad.”

And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated, this is what the LORD says: “Rise up, advance against Kedar, and destroy the people of the east!

Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote. Thus says Jehovah: Arise ye. Go up to Kedar, and destroy the sons of the east.

29 They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’

They shall take their tents and their flocks. They shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels. And they shall cry to them, Terror on every side!

30 Run! Escape quickly! Lie low, O residents of Hazor,” declares the LORD, “for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has drawn up a plan against you; he has devised a strategy against you.

Flee ye. Wander far off. Dwell in the depths, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, says Jehovah. For Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you.

31 Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, one that dwells securely,” declares the LORD. “They have no gates or bars; they live alone.

Arise, get you up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without worry, says Jehovah, that has neither gates nor bars, that dwells alone.

32 Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoil. I will scatter to the wind in every direction those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them from all sides,”

And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil. And I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their hair cut off. And I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Jehovah.

33 “Hazor will become a haunt for jackals, a desolation forever. No one will dwell there; no man will abide there.”

And Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation forever. No man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man sojourn therein.

34 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.

The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

35 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will shatter Elam’s bow, the mainstay of their might.

Thus says Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

36 I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam’s exiles will not go.

And upon Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds. And there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

37 So I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives. I will bring disaster upon them, even My fierce anger,” declares the LORD. “I will send out the sword after them until I finish them off.

And I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. And I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, says Jehovah. And I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them.

38 I will set My throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials,”

And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and rulers, says Jehovah.

39 “Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity,”

But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says Jehovah.