Jeremiah 49

1 About the children of Ammon. These are the words of the Lord: Has Israel no sons? has he no one to take the heritage? why then has Milcom taken Gad for himself, putting his people in its towns?

Of the children of Ammon. Thus saith the LORD: Hath Israel no sons? Hath he no heir? Why then doth Malcam take possession of Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?

2 Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate mound, and her daughters shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel dispossess them that did dispossess him, saith the LORD.

3 Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests.

Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is undone; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro among the folds; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

4 Why are you lifted up in pride on account of your valleys, your flowing valley, O daughter ever turning away? who puts her faith in her wealth, saying, Who will come against me?

Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that didst trust in thy treasures: 'Who shall come unto me?'

5 See, I will send fear on you, says the Lord, the Lord of armies, from those who are round you on every side; you will be forced out, every man straight before him, and there will be no one to get together the wanderers.

Behold, I will bring a terror upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all that are round about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather up him that wandereth.

6 But after these things, I will let the fate of the children of Ammon be changed, says the Lord.

But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

7 About Edom. This is what the Lord of armies has said. Is there no more wisdom in Teman? have wise suggestions come to an end among men of good sense? has their wisdom completely gone?

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

8 Go in flight, go back, take cover in deep places, you who are living in Dedan; for I will send the fate of Edom on him, even the time of his punishment.

Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; For I do bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall punish him.

9 If men came to get your grapes, would they not let some be uncut on the vines? if thieves came by night, would they not make waste till they had enough?

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 I have had Esau searched out, uncovering his secret places, so that he may not keep himself covered: his seed is wasted and has come to an end, and there is no help from his neighbours.

But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself; his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

11 Put in my care your children who have no father, and I will keep them safe; and let your widows put their faith in me.

Leave thy fatherless children, I will rear them, and let thy widows trust in Me.

12 For the Lord has said, Those for whom the cup was not made ready will certainly be forced to take of it; and are you to go without punishment? you will not be without punishment, but will certainly be forced to take from the cup.

For thus saith the LORD: Behold, they to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink.

13 For I have taken an oath by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will become a cause of wonder, a name of shame, a waste and a curse; and all its towns will be waste places for ever.

For I have sworn by Myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.

14 Word has come to me from the Lord, and a representative has been sent to the nations, to say, Come together and go up against her, and take your places for the fight.

I have heard a message from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations: 'Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.'

15 For see, I have made you small among the nations, looked down on by men.

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

16 ... the pride of your heart has been a false hope, O you who are living in the cracks of the rock, keeping your place on the top of the hill: even if you made your living-place as high as the eagle, I would make you come down, says the Lord.

Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, even the pride of thy heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill; though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

17 And Edom will become a cause of wonder: everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder, and make sounds of fear at all her punishments.

And Edom shall become an astonishment; every one that passeth by it shall be astonished and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.

18 As at the downfall of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring towns, says the Lord, no man will be living in it, no son of man will have a resting-place there.

As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

19 See, he will come up like a lion from the thick growth of Jordan against the resting-place of Teman: but I will suddenly make him go in flight from her; and I will put over her the man of my selection: for who is like me? and who will put forward his cause against me? and what keeper of sheep will be able to keep his place before me?

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make him run away from it, and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it; for who is like Me? and who will appoint Me a time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before Me?

20 For this cause give ear to the decision of the Lord which he has made against Edom, and to his purposes designed against the people of Teman: Truly, they will be pulled away by the smallest of the flock; truly, he will make waste their fields with them.

Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that He hath taken against Edom; and His purposes, that He hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall drag them away, surely their habitation shall be appalled at them.

21 The earth is shaking with the noise of their fall; their cry is sounding in the Red Sea.

The earth quaketh at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is heard in the Red Sea.

22 See, he will come up like an eagle in flight, stretching out his wings against Bozrah: and the hearts of Edom's men of war on that day will be like the heart of a woman in birth-pains.

Behold, he shall come up and swoop down as the vulture, 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 About Damascus. Hamath is put to shame, and Arpad; for the word of evil has come to their ears, their heart in its fear is turned to water, it will not be quiet.

Of Damascus. Hamath is ashamed, and Arpad; for they have heard evil tidings, they are melted away; there is trouble in the sea; it cannot be quiet.

24 Damascus has become feeble, she is turned to flight, fear has taken her in its grip: pain and sorrows have come on her, as on a woman in birth-pains.

Damascus is waxed feeble, she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her; anguish and pangs have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

25 How has the town of praise been wasted, the place of joy!

'How is the city of praise left unrepaired, the city of my joy?'

26 So her young men will be falling in her streets, and all the men of war will be cut off in that day, says the Lord of armies.

Therefore her young men shall fall in her broad places, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.

27 And I will have a fire lighted on the wall of Damascus, burning up the great houses of Ben-hadad.

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

28 About Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, overcame. This is what the Lord has said: Up! go against Kedar, and make an attack on the children of the east.

Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote. Thus saith the LORD: Arise ye, go up against Kedar, and spoil the children of the east.

29 Their tents and their flocks they will take; they will take away for themselves their curtains and all their vessels and their camels: they will give a cry to them, Fear on every side.

Their tents and their flocks shall they take, they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall proclaim against them a terror on every side.

30 Go in flight, go wandering far off, take cover in deep places, O people of Hazor, says the Lord; for Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, has made a design against you, he has a purpose against you in mind.

Flee ye, flit far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.

31 Up! go against a nation which is living in comfort and without fear of danger, says the Lord, without doors or locks, living by themselves.

Arise, get you up against a nation that is at ease, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.

32 And their camels will be taken from them by force, and their great herds will come into the hands of their attackers: those who have the ends of their hair cut I will send in flight to all the winds; and I will send their fate on them from every side, says the Lord.

And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; and I will scatter unto all winds them that have the corners polled; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, saith the LORD.

33 And Hazor will be a hole for jackals, a waste for ever: no one will be living in it, and no son of man will have a resting-place there.

And Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation for ever; no man shall abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

34 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, saying,

The word of the LORD 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 armies has said: See, I will have the bow of Elam, their chief strength, broken.

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

36 And I will send on Elam four winds from the four quarters of heaven, driving them out to all those winds; there will be no nation into which the wanderers from Elam do not come.

And I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the dispersed of Elam shall not come.

37 And I will let Elam be broken before their haters, and before those who are making designs against their lives: I will send evil on them, even my burning wrath, says the Lord; and I will send the sword after them till I have put an end to them:

And I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life; and I will bring evil upon them, even My fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them;

38 I will put the seat of my power in Elam, and in Elam I will put an end to kings and rulers, says the Lord.

And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence king and princes, saith the LORD.

39 But it will come about that, in the last days, I will let the fate of Elam be changed, says the Lord.

But it shall come to pass in the end of days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.