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?

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 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, 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 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.

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 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?

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

And after this I return the captivity of the sons of Ammon, A declaration of YHWH.”

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?

Concerning Edom: “Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Is wisdom no longer in Teman? Has counsel perished from the intelligent? Has 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, 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 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 gatherers have come to you, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency!

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.

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 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 your orphans—I keep alive, And your widows—trust on 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 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 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, 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 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 report from YHWH, And an ambassador is sent among nations, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise for battle.

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

For behold, I have made you little among nations, 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.

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 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 has been for a desolation, Everyone passing by her is astonished, And hisses because of all her plagues.

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

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 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 has been feeble, She turned to flee, and fear strengthened her, Distress and pangs have seized her, as a travailing woman.

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

How it is not left—the city of praise, 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 fall in her broad places, And all the men of war are cut off in that day, A declaration of YHWH 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 have kindled a fire against the wall of Damascus, And it consumed 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.

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 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.

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 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, 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 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.

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

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

“Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning 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 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 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 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 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 have set My throne in Elam, And I have destroyed king and princes from there, A declaration of YHWH.

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

And it has come to pass, in the latter end of the days, I return the captivity of Elam, A declaration of YHWH!”