Jeremiah 49
1 Against the children of 'Ammon, Thus hath said the Lord, Hath Israel no sons? or hath he no heir? why then doth Malcolm possess Gad, and why do his people dwell in his cities?
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?
2 Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the children of 'Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and its villages shall be burnt with fire: then shall Israel drive out those that drove them out, saith the Lord.
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.
3 Wail, O Cheshbon, for 'Ai is wasted; cry aloud, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird yourselves with sackcloth; lament, and roam about among the sheepfolds; for Malcolm shall go into exile, [with] his priest and his princes together.
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.
4 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys? thy valley floweth [with blood], O backsliding daughter, that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who can come unto me?
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?
5 Behold, I will bring terror upon thee, saith the Lord the Eternal of hosts, from all those that are around thee: and ye shall be driven out every man in his own way; and none shall gather up the fugitive.
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.
6 And afterward will I bring back again the captivity of the children of 'Ammon, saith the Lord.
But after these things, I will let the fate of the children of Ammon be changed, says the Lord.
7 Concerning Edom, thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Is there no more wisdom in Theman? is counsel vanished from the prudent? is their wisdom become corrupt?
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?
8 They flee, turn round, seek their abode in deep places, — the inhabitants of Dedan; for the calamity of Esau do I bring upon him, the time when I visit him with punishment.
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.
9 If grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left some gleanings? if thieves by night, they would destroy only till they had satisfied themselves;
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?
10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret haunts, so that he will not be able to hide himself: his seed is wasted, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is no more.
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.
11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will have to preserve them alive: and thy widows must trust in me.
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.
12 For thus hath said the Lord, Behold, they whose right it was not to drink the cup have been compelled to drink it, and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink it.
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.
13 For by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse; and all its cities shall become perpetual ruins.
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.
14 A report have I heard 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.
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.
15 For, lo, I render thee small among the nations, despised among men.
For see, I have made you small among the nations, looked down on by men.
16 Thy hastiness hath deceived thee, the presumption of thy heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldst make thy nest as high as the eagle, thence would I bring thee down, saith the Lord.
... 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.
17 And Edom shall become [an object of] astonishment: every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its wounds.
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.
18 Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, saith the Lord, so shall no man dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn therein.
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.
19 Behold, like a lion will he come up from the overflow of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will hasten him, [and] make him suddenly prevail against her; and him who is chosen will I array against her; for who is like me? and who will challenge me to battle? and who is that shepherd that can stand before me?
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?
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he hath resolved against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath devised against the inhabitants of Theman: Surely the least of the flocks shall drag them away; surely he will devastate over them their habitation.
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.
21 At the noise of their fall the earth quaketh: [there is] an outcry, —at the Red Sea their voice is heard.
The earth is shaking with the noise of their fall; their cry is sounding in the Red Sea.
22 Behold, like the eagle shall he come up and fly along, and spread out his wings over Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be on that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
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.
23 Concerning Damascus. Chamath and Arpad are made ashamed; for evil tidings have they heard, they are fainthearted: on the sea there is care, it is not able to be quiet.
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.
24 Damascus is become feeble, she turneth about to flee, and trembling hath taken hold on her: pangs and throes have seized her, as a woman in travail.
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.
25 “How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town of my joy!”
How has the town of praise been wasted, the place of joy!
26 Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall perish on that day, saith the Lord of hosts.
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.
27 And I will kindle a fire on the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.
And I will have a fire lighted on the wall of Damascus, burning up the great houses of Ben-hadad.
28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Chazor, which Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon smote, thus hath said the Lord, Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and devastate the men of the east.
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.
29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away; their curtains, and all their vessels and their camels shall they take to themselves: and they shall call out over them, Terror is on every side.
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.
30 Flee, fly away far off, seek your abode in deep places, O ye inhabitants of Chazor, saith the Lord; for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a device against you.
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.
31 Arise, get you up unto the nation that is at ease, that dwelleth in security, saith the Lord, which hath neither gates nor bars, which dwelleth alone.
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.
32 And their camels shall become a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter unto all winds those that have the hair cut round; and from all sides will I bring their calamity, saith the Lord.
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.
33 And Chazor shall become a dwelling for monsters, a desolation for ever: there shall no man dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn therein.
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.
34 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning 'Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, saying,
The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow of 'Elam, the chief of their strength.
This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will have the bow of Elam, their chief strength, broken.
36 And I will bring over 'Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the heavens, and I will scatter them toward all these winds: and there shall not be any nation whither shall not come the outcasts of 'Elam.
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.
37 For I will cause 'Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those that seek their life: and I will bring over them evil, the fierceness of my anger, saith the Lord: and I will send out after them the sword, till I have made an end of them.
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:
38 And I will set up my throne in 'Elam, and I will destroy thence king and princes, saith the Lord.
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.
39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring back again the captivity of 'Elam, saith the Lord.
But it will come about that, in the last days, I will let the fate of Elam be changed, says the Lord.
