Jeremiah 49
1 This is what the Lord says about the Ammonites: Don't the Israelites have any children? Don't they have heirs to inherit their property? So why has Milcom taken over the territory belonging to the tribe of Gad? Why are his people living in their towns?
Concerning the Ammonites, thus says the LORD; Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
2 Watch out! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will signal the attack on the Ammonite town of Rabbah. It will be turned into a pile of ruins, and its villages will be burned down. Then the Israelites will drive out the people who took over their land, says the Lord.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir to them that were his heirs, said the LORD.
3 Weep, people of Heshbon, for the town of Ai has been destroyed. Cry for help, people of Rabbah! Put on clothes made of sackcloth and start mourning; run to and fro inside your city walls, because your god Milcom will go into exile along with his priests and leaders.
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, you daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.
4 Why do you boast that your valleys are so productive, you unfaithful people? You trust in your wealth, saying, “Who would dare attack us?”
Why glory you in the valleys, your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come to me?
5 Watch out! I'm going to bring the surrounding nations to terrorize you, declares the Lord God Almighty. You will all be driven out and scattered, and no one will be able to gather you refugees together again.
Behold, I will bring a fear on you, says the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wanders.
6 However, later on I will bring you Ammonites back from exile, declares the Lord.
And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, says the LORD.
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says about Edom: Aren't there any wise people left in Teman? Isn't there any good advice from those with insight? Has their wisdom rotted away?
Concerning Edom, thus says the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
8 Turn and run away! Find somewhere to hide, people of Dedan, because I'm bringing disaster down on you descendants of Esau when I punish you.
Flee you, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I will visit him.
9 If people harvesting grapes came to you, they'd leave some behind, wouldn't they? If thieves came during the night, they'd only steal what they wanted, wouldn't they?
If grape gatherers come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
10 But I'm going to strip the whole country of bare, leaving its people with nowhere to hide. All of Esau's descendants will be destroyed, along with their relatives and friends—they will all be gone.
But I have made Esau bore, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brothers, and his neighbors, and he is not.
11 However, you can leave your orphans to me because I will protect them. Have your widows put their trust in me.
Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.
12 This is what the Lord says: If those who were not required to drink from the cup of judgment had to do so, how could you not be punished yourselves? You won't go unpunished, because you have to drink it too.
For thus says the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and are you he that shall altogether go unpunished? you shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it.
13 I made myself a solemn promise, declares the Lord, that the town of Bozrah will become a place that horrifies people, a complete humiliation, a pile of ruins, and a name that's used as a curse word. All its surrounding towns will also be left in ruins forever.
For I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
14 I received this message from the Lord. He has sent a messenger to the nations: Get yourselves ready to attack Edom! Prepare for battle!
I have heard a rumor from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent to the heathen, saying, Gather you together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
15 Watch as I will make you insignificant compared to other nations—everyone will look down on you.
For, see, I will make you small among the heathen, and despised among men.
16 The fear you once created in others, and your pride in yourselves, has fooled you into overconfidence, you people living on the rocky mountain tops. Though you make your homes high out of reach like an eagle's nest, I will tear you down, even from there, declares the Lord.
Your terribleness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you that dwell in the clefts of the rock, that hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says the LORD.
17 People will be horrified at what's happened to Edom. Everyone passing by will be shocked, and will sneer at all its damage.
Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, along with their neighboring towns, says the Lord, nobody will live there—they will become uninhabited.
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19 Watch out! I'm going to come like a lion from the tangled undergrowth beside the Jordan to attack the animals grazing the green pasture. In fact I'm going to chase the Edomites from their land very quickly. Who will I choose to conquer them? Who is like me? Who can challenge me? Which leader could oppose me?
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
20 So listen to what the Lord has planned to do to Edom and the people of Teman: Their children will be dragged away like lambs from the flock, and because of them their pasture will become a wasteland.
Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
21 When they fall, the sound they make will make the earth shake; their cries will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.
The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.
22 Watch as an enemy like an eagle flies high, then swoops down, spreading its wings as it attacks Bozrah. At that time Edom's warriors will be as scared as a woman in labor.
Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23 A prophecy about Damascus: The towns of Hamath and Arpad are disturbed, because they've received bad news. They are fearful, restless like the sea. Nothing can calm their worries.
Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.
24 The people of Damascus are demoralized—they turn and run away in panic, overcome by pain and anguish like a woman in labor.
Damascus is waxed feeble, and turns herself to flee, and fear has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 Why isn't the city that is praised deserted, the city that made me happy?
How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 For on that day its young men will die in its streets, all its defenders will be killed, declares the Lord of Hosts.
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, says the LORD of hosts.
27 I'm going to set fire to the walls of Damascus; that will burn down the fortresses of Ben-hadad.
And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.
28 A prophecy about the land of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that were attacked by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This is what the Lord says: Go and attack Kedar; destroy the people of the east!
Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus says the LORD; Arise you, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.
29 Take their tents and their flocks! Carry off their tent curtains and all their possessions! Take their camels for yourselves. Shout out to them: “Terror is everywhere!”
Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, Fear is on every side.
30 Run! Get away as far as you can! Find somewhere to hide, people of Hazor, declares the Lord. For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made plans to attack and destroy you.
Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O you inhabitants of Hazor, says the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you.
31 Go and attack that self-satisfied nation that thinks it's safe, declares the Lord. They don't have any barred gates and have no allies.
Arise, get you up to the wealthy nation, that dwells without care, says the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.
32 Their camels and large herds will be plunder for you. I will scatter them everywhere, these desert people who trim their hair on the sides of their heads. I will bring disaster down on them from all directions, declares the Lord.
And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, says the LORD.
33 Hazor will become a place where jackals live, a place abandoned forever. No one will live there; it will become uninhabited.
And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.
34 This is the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam. This was at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 This is what the Lord Almighty says: Look! I'm going to smash the bows of the Elamites, the weapon they rely on for their power.
Thus says the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
36 I will bring winds from all directions to attack Elam, and I will scatter them in all directions. There won't be a nation that doesn't have some of Elam's exiles.
And on Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37 I will smash the Elamites in front of their enemies, before those who want to kill them. In my furious anger I will bring disaster down on them, declares the Lord. I will chase them down with the sword until I have destroyed them.
For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger, says the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:
38 I will set up my throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials, declares the Lord.
And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes, says the LORD.
39 However, later on I will bring the Elamites back from exile, declares the Lord.
But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, says the LORD.
