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?
Against the children of Ammon. Thus saith the Lord: Hath Israel no sons? or hath he no heir? Why then hath Melchom inherited Gad: and his people dwelt in his cities?
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, saith the Lord, and I will cause the noise of war to be heard in Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and it shall be destroyed into a heap, and her daughters shall be burnt with fire, and Israel shall possess them that have possessed him, saith the Lord.
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.
Howl, O Hesebon, for Hai is wasted. Cry, ye daughters of Rabbath, gird yourselves with haircloth: mourn and go about by the hedges: for Melchom shall be carried into captivity, his priests, and his princes 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 gloriest thou in the valleys? thy valley hath flowed away, O delicate daughter, that hast trusted in thy treasures, and hast said: 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, saith the Lord God of hosts, from all that are round about thee: and you shall be scattered every one out of one another’s sight, neither shall there be any to gather together them that flee.
6 Yet afterward I will restore the Ammonites from captivity,” declares the LORD.
And afterwards I will cause the captives of the children of Ammon to return, saith the Lord.
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?
Against Edom. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Theman? counsel is perished from her children: their wisdom is become unprofitable.
8 Turn and run! Lie low, O dwellers of Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.
Flee and turn your backs, go down into the deep hole, ye inhabitants of Dedan: for I have brought the destruction of Esau upon him, the time of his visitation.
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 grapegatherers had come to thee, would they not have left a bunch? if thieves in the night, they would have taken what was enough for them.
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 revealed his secrets, and he cannot be hid: his seed is laid waste, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he shall not be.
11 Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”
Leave thy fatherless children: I will make them live: and thy widows shall hope 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 saith the Lord: Behold they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup, shall certainly drink: and shalt thou come off as innocent? thou shalt not come off as innocent, but drinking thou shalt 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, saith the Lord, that Bosra shall become a desolation, and a reproach, and a desert, and a curse: and all her cities shall be everlasting 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 a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent to the nations: Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and let us rise up to battle.
15 “For behold, I will make you small among nations, despised among men.
For behold I have made thee a little one among the nations, despicable 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,”
Thy arrogancy hath deceived thee, and the pride of thy heart: O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, and endeavourest to lay hold on the height of the hill: but though thou shouldst make thy nest as high as an eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord.
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 be desolate: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues.
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 Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha, and the neighbours thereof, saith the Lord: there shall not a man dwell there, and there shall no son of man inhabit 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 one shall come up as a lion from the swelling of the Jordan, against the strong and beautiful: for I will make him run suddenly upon her: and who shall be the chosen one whom I may appoint over her? for who is like to me? and who shall abide me? and who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance?
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 the Lord, which he hath taken concerning Edom: and his thoughts which he hath thought concerning the inhabitants of Theman: surely the little ones of the flock shall cast them down, of a truth they shall destroy them with their habitation.
21 At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; their cry will resound to the Red Sea.
The earth is moved at the noise of their fall: the cry of their voice 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 as an eagle, and fly: and he shall spread his wings over Bosra: and in that day the heart of the valiant ones of Edom shall be as the heart of a woman in labour.
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.
Against Damascus. Emath is confounded and Arphad: for they have heard very bad tidings, they are troubled as in the sea: through care they could not rest.
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 is undone, she is put to flight, trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in labour.
25 How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town that brings Me joy?
How have they forsaken the city of renown, the city of 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 silent in that day, saith the Lord 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, rind it shall devour the strong holds of Benadad.
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!
Against Cedar and against the kingdoms of Asor, which Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon destroyed. Thus saith the Lord: Arise, and go ye up to Cedar, and waste the children 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: and shall carry off for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels: and they shall call fear upon them round about.
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, get away speedily, sit in deep holes, you that inhabit Asur, saith the Lord: for Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived designs 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, and so up to a nation that is at ease, and that dwelleth securely, saith the Lord: they have neither gates, nor bars: they dwell 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 for a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle for a booty, and I will scatter into every wind them that have their hair cut round, and I will bring destruction upon them from I all their confines, saith the Lord.
33 “Hazor will become a haunt for jackals, a desolation forever. No one will dwell there; no man will abide there.”
And Asor shall be a habitation for dragons, desolate for ever: no man shall abide there, nor son of man inhabit it.
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 the Lord that came to Jeremias the prophet against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Sedecias king of Juda, saying:
35 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will shatter Elam’s bow, the mainstay of their might.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will break the bow of Elam, and their chief strength.
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 I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the fear quarters of heaven: and I will scatter them into all these winds: and there shall be no nation, to which the fugitives 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 afraid before their enemies, and in the sight of them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, my fierce wrath, saith the Lord: and will send the sword after them, till I consume them.
38 I will set My throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials,”
And I will set my throne in Elam, and destroy kings and princes from thence, saith the Lord.
39 “Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity,”
But in the latter days I will cause the captives of Elam, to return, saith the Lord.
