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?
Of the children of Ammon. Thus saith the LORD: Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?
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, 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 heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess them that did possess him, saith 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, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run to and fro among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, 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?”
Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, [saying], Who shall come unto 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 upon thee, saith the Lord, the LORD 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 However, later on I will bring you Ammonites back from exile, declares the Lord.
But afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith 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?
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 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 ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall 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 grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had 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 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 However, you can leave your orphans to me because I will protect them. Have your widows put their trust in me.
Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy 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 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 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, 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 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 tidings from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves 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, behold, I have made thee small among the nations, 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.
As for thy terribleness, the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, 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 People will be horrified at what's happened to Edom. Everyone passing by will be shocked, and will sneer at all its damage.
And Edom shall become an astonishment: every one that passeth by it shall he 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 neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
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 pride of Jordan against the strong habitation: but I will suddenly make him run away from her; and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over her: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the 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 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 they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation 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 trembleth at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is 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 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 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.
Of Damascus. Hamath is ashamed, and Arpad; for they have heard evil tidings, they are melted away: 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, she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of 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 forsaken, 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 brought to silence in that day, saith 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 devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
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!
Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote: Thus saith the LORD: Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the children 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; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels: and they shall cry unto them, Terror 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 ye, wander 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 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 unto a nation that is at ease, that dwelleth without care, saith 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 unto all winds them that have the corners [of their hair] polled; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, saith 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 place of jackals, a desolation for ever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
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 concerning 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 saith 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 upon 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 whither 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.
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 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 thence king and princes, saith 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, saith the LORD.
