Jeremiah 49

1 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?

Then came all the leaders of the host, and Joanan, and Azarias the son of Maasaeas, and all the people great and small,

2 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.

to Jeremias the prophet, and said to him, Let now our supplication come before your face, and pray you to the Lord your God for this remnant; for we are left few out of many, as your eyes see.

3 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.

And let the Lord your God declare to us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing which we should do.

4 Why do you boast yourself in valleys? Your valley is flowing, O backsliding daughter, Who is trusting in her treasures: Who comes to me?

And Jeremias said to them, I have heard [you]; behold, I will pray for you to the Lord our God, according to your words; and it shall come to pass, [that] whatever word the Lord God shall answer, I will declare [it] to you; I will not hide anything from you.

5 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.

And they said to Jeremias, Let the Lord be between us for a just and faithful witness, if we do not according to every word which the Lord shall send to us.

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

And whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, because we shall listen to the voice of the Lord our God.

7 Concerning Edom: “Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Is wisdom no longer in Teman? Has counsel perished from the intelligent? Has their wisdom vanished?

And it came to pass after ten days, [that] the word of the Lord came to Jeremias.

8 Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, you inhabitants of Dedan, For I brought the calamity of Esau on him, The time I inspected him.

And he called Joanan, and the leaders of the host, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

9 If gatherers have come to you, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency!

and he said to them, Thus says the Lord;

10 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.

If you will indeed dwell in this land, I will build you, and will not pull [you] down, but will plant you, and in no wise pluck you up: for I have ceased from the calamities which I brought upon you.

11 Leave your orphans—I keep alive, And your widows—trust on Me,

Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; be not afraid of him, says the Lord: for I am with you, to deliver you, and save you out of their hand.

12 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.

And I will grant you mercy, and pity you, and will restore you to your land.

13 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.

But if you say, We will not dwell in this land, that we may not listen to the voice of the Lord;

14 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.

for we will go into the land of Egypt, and we shall see no war, and shall not hear the sound of a trumpet, and we shall not hunger for bread; and there we will dwell:

15 For behold, I have made you little among nations, Despised among men.

then hear the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord;

16 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.

If you set your face towards Egypt, and go in there to dwell; then it shall be, [that] the sword which you fear shall find you in the land of Egypt, and the famine to which you have regard, shall overtake you, [coming] after you in Egypt; and there you shall die.

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

And all the men, and all the strangers who have set their face towards the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall be consumed by the sword, and by the famine: and there shall not one of them escape from the evils which I bring upon them.

18 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.

For thus says the Lord; As my wrath has dropped upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath drop upon you, when you have entered into Egypt: and you shall be a desolation, and under the power of others, and a curse and a reproach: and you shall no more see this place.

19 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?

[These are the words] which the Lord has spoken concerning you the remnant of Juda; Enter you not into Egypt: and now know you for a certainty,

20 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?

that you have wrought wickedness in your hearts, when you sent me, saying, Pray you for us to the Lord; and according to all that the Lord shall speak to you we will do.

21 The earth has shaken from the noise of their fall, The cry—its voice is heard at the Sea of Suph.

And you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, with which he sent me to you.

22 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.”

Now therefore you shall perish by sword and by famine, in the place which you desire to go into to dwell there.

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

25 How it is not left—the city of praise, The city of My joy!

26 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 have kindled a fire against the wall of Damascus, And it consumed palaces of Ben-Hadad!”

28 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 “Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning of their might.

36 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 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 And I have set My throne in Elam, And I have destroyed king and princes from there, A declaration of YHWH.

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