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 said YHWH: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why has Malcam possessed Gad, And his people have dwelt in its 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, days are coming, A declaration of YHWH, And I have sounded a shout of battle in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, And it has been for a heap—a desolation, And her daughters are burned with fire, And Israel has succeeded its heirs, said YHWH.
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, Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled, Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth, Lament, and go to and fro by the hedges, For Malcam goes 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 do you boast yourself in valleys? Your valley is flowing, O backsliding daughter, Who is trusting in her treasures: Who comes 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 am bringing fear in on you, A declaration of Lord YHWH of Hosts, From all around you, And you have each been driven out before it, And there is no gatherer of the wandering.
6 Yet afterward I will restore the Ammonites from captivity,” declares the LORD.
And after this I return the captivity of the sons of Ammon, A declaration of YHWH.”
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?
Concerning Edom: “Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Is wisdom no longer in Teman? Has counsel perished from the intelligent? 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, turn, go deep to dwell, you inhabitants of Dedan, For I brought the calamity of Esau on him, The time I inspected 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 gatherers have come to you, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency!
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.
For I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And he is not able to be hidden, Spoiled [is] his seed, 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 your orphans—I keep alive, And your widows—trust on 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 said YHWH: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And you [are] he that is entirely acquitted! You are not acquitted, for you certainly 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, A declaration of YHWH, That for a desolation, for a reproach, For a dry place, and for a reviling—is Bozrah, And all her cities are for continuous ruins.
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 report from YHWH, And an ambassador is sent among nations, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise for battle.
15 “For behold, I will make you small among nations, despised among men.
For behold, I have made you little among nations, 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,”
Your terribleness has lifted you up, The pride of your heart, O dweller in clefts of the rock, Holding the high place of the height, For you make your nest high as an eagle, From there I bring you down, A declaration of YHWH.
17 “Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
And Edom has been for a desolation, Everyone passing by her is astonished, And hisses because of all her 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 the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbors, said YHWH, No one dwells there, Nor does a son of man sojourn in her.
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 comes up as a lion, Because of the rising of the Jordan, To the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? I lay a charge concerning her, For who is like Me? And who convenes Me? And who [is] this shepherd who stands 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 the counsel of YHWH, That He has counseled concerning Edom, And His plans that He has devised Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Do little ones of the flock not drag them out, Does He not make their habitation desolate?
21 At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; their cry will resound to the Red Sea.
The earth has shaken from the noise of their fall, The cry—its voice is heard at the Sea of Suph.
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 comes up as an eagle, and flies, And He spreads His wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom has been in that day, As the heart of a travailing woman.”
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.
Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad have been ashamed, For they have heard an evil report, They have been melted, sorrow [is] in the sea, It is not able to 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 been feeble, She turned to flee, and fear strengthened her, Distress and pangs have seized her, as a travailing woman.
25 How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town that brings Me joy?
How it is not left—the city of praise, 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 fall in her broad places, And all the men of war are cut off in that day, A declaration of YHWH of Hosts.
27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-hadad.”
And I have kindled a fire against the wall of Damascus, And it consumed 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!
Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has struck: “Thus said YHWH: Arise, go up to Kedar, And spoil 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 take their tents and their flock, Their curtains, and all their vessels, And they carry away their camels for themselves, And they called concerning them, Fear [is] all around.
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, bemoan mightily, go deep to dwell, You inhabitants of Hazor—a declaration of YHWH, For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has given counsel against you, Indeed, he devises a scheme against them.
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.
Rise, go up to a nation at rest, Dwelling confidently, a declaration of YHWH, It has no double gates nor bar, 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 have been for a prey, And the multitude of their livestock for a spoil, And I have scattered them to every wind, Who cut off the corner [of the beard], And from all its passages I bring in their calamity, A declaration of YHWH.
33 “Hazor will become a haunt for jackals, a desolation forever. No one will dwell there; no man will abide there.”
And Hazor has been for a habitation of dragons, A desolation for all time, No one dwells there, nor does a son of man sojourn in 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.
That which has been the word of YHWH 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 said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning 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 I have brought four winds to Elam, From the four ends of the heavens, And have scattered them to all these winds, And there is no nation to where outcasts of Elam do not come in.
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 have frightened Elam before their enemies, And before those seeking their life, And I have brought calamity on them, The heat of My anger, A declaration of YHWH, And I have sent the sword after them, Until I have consumed them;
38 I will set My throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials,”
And I have set My throne in Elam, And I have destroyed king and princes from there, A declaration of YHWH.
39 “Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity,”
And it has come to pass, in the latter end of the days, I return the captivity of Elam, A declaration of YHWH!”
