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 sons of Ammon-Thus saith Yahweh: Hath Israel no, sons? Hath he no, heir? Why hath, Malkam, taken possession of Gad, Or have, his people, in the cities thereof, made their dwelling?

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, lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh When I will cause to be heard against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, an alarm of war, So shall she become a mound of desolation, And, her villages, with fire, shall blaze, —Then shall Israel, inherit them who inherited him, Saith Yahweh.

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, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled Make outcry, ye daughters of Rabbah, Gird you with sackcloth, Lament ye and run to and fro among the fences, —For, Malkam, into captivity, shall go, 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 shouldst thou glory in the vales, The flowing of thy vale O apostate daughter? She who is trusting in her treasures, [saying, ] Who shall invade, 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 me! bringing upon thee, terror Declareth My Lord, Yahweh of hosts, From all who are round about thee, —And ye shall be driven out every man before it, And there shall be none to bring home the wanderer;

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

But afterwards, will I bring back the captivity of the sons of Ammon, Declareth Yahweh.

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 Yahweh of hosts, Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Hath counsel perished from the discerning? Is their wisdom corrupt?

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 go down deep to dwell, O inhabitant of Dedan, —For the doom of Esau, have I brought in upon him The time of his visitation.

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, gleanings? If, thieves in the night, Would they not have taken away what sufficed them?

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 stripped Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And to conceal himself, shall he not be able! Spoiled, are his seed, 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 preserve them alive, —And thy widows, In me, let them trust.

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 Yahweh—Lo! they who had not been adjudged to drink the cup, shall surely drink, And art thou, the one to go unpunished? Thou shalt not go unpunished, but 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 by myself, have I sworn, Declareth Yahweh, That, Bozrah shall become, an astonishment: a reproach and a desolation, and a contempt, —And all her cities shall become age-abiding desolations.

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.

A report, have I heard from Yahweh, Yea, an envoy, throughout the nations, hath been sent, —Gather yourselves together and come against her, And arise to the battle.

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

For lo! Small, have I made thee among the 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.

Thy monstrous thing, hath deceived thee, The insolence of thy heart, O thou that inhabitest the hidden recesses of the cliff, That holdest fast the height of the hill, —Though thou set high as an eagle, thy nest, From thence, will I bring thee down, Declareth Yahweh;

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.

So shall, Edom, become an astonishment, —Every one passing by her, will be astonished and hiss, over 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.

Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and her neighbours, Saith Yahweh, —There shall not dwell there—a man, Nor sojourn therein—any son of the earth-born.

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?

Lo! like a lion, will he come up from the majesty of the Jordan, unto the pasture perennial, But I will wink—I will make him run away therefrom, Who then shall be the Chosen One whom over it, I may set in charge? For who shall be like unto, me? And who shall appoint me, a time? And who is the Shepherd that shall 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.

Wherefore, hear ye The counsel of Yahweh which he hath counseled against Edom, And his devices which he hath devised against the inhabitants of Teman, —Surely the little ones of the flock shall drag them away, Surely he will cause their fold to be astounded over them.

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

At the noise of their fall, hath trembled the earth, At the outcry, in the Red Sea, was heard its noise.

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.

Lo! as an eagle, he shall mount and dart, and spread his wings over Bozrah, —So shall the heart of the heroes of Edom, in that day, become as the heart of a woman in her pain.

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. Turned pale have Hamath and Arpad, For, a calamitous report, have they heard—they tremble, —In the sea, is anxiety, it cannot, rest.

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.

Enfeebled is Damascus She hath turned to flee But terror, hath seized her, —Anguish and pangs, have seized her as a woman in childbirth.

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

Alas! is she not forsaken—The city so praised! The citadel I rejoiced in!

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 shall her young men fall in her broadways, —And, all her men of war, shall be silent in that day, Declareth Yahweh of hosts;

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

Then will I kindle a fire in the walls 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 Yahweh, —Arise ye go up against Kedar, So shall they 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.

Their tents and their flocks, shall they take, And their curtains and all their baggage and their camels, shall they carry off for themselves, —And shall cry out unto them, Terror round about!

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 remove far away, go deep to dwell, Ye inhabitants of Hazor, Urgeth Yahweh; For Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon—hath counseled against you, a counsel, And devised against you a device.

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 ye, go up against a nation at ease—dwelling securely, Commandeth Yahweh, —Having neither doors nor bars, Alone, do they dwell:

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.

So shall their camels, become, a prey, And the throng of their cattle, a spoil, Then will I scatter them to every wind even the clipt-beards, —And from all sides of him, will I bring in their doom Declareth Yahweh.

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.

So shall Hazor become A habitation of jackals An astonishment unto times age-abiding: There shall not dwell there—a man, Nor sojourn therein—a son of the earth-born.

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

So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah the prophet, Against 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 Yahweh of hosts, Behold me! 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.

Then will I bring in against Elam four winds from the four quarters of the heavens, And will scatter them to all these winds, —And there shall be no nation whither the outcasts 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 Even before them who are seeking their life, So will I bring upon them calamity, Even the glow of mine anger Declareth Yahweh, —And will send after them the sword, until I have made an end of 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, Declareth Yahweh;

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 afterpart of the days, That I will bring back the captivity of Elam, Declareth Yahweh.