Jeremiah 49
1 Of the people of Ammon. "Thus says the LORD: 'Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Milcom possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?
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?
2 Therefore look, the days come,' says the LORD, 'that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the people of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who possessed him,' says the LORD.
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.
3 'Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, clothe yourself in sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Milcom shall go into captivity, his priests and his officials together.
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.
4 Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You who trusted in her treasures, saying, "Who shall come to me?"
Why do you boast that your valleys are so productive, you unfaithful people? You trust in your wealth, saying, “Who would dare attack us?”
5 Look, I will bring a fear on you,' says the LORD of hosts, 'from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.
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.
6 But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the people of Ammon,' says the LORD."
However, later on I will bring you Ammonites back from exile, declares the Lord.
7 Of Edom. "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?
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?
8 Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.
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.
9 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough?
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?
10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more.
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.
11 Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.'
However, you can leave your orphans to me because I will protect them. Have your widows put their trust in me.
12 For thus says the LORD: 'Look, they to whom it did not pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.
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.
13 For I have sworn by myself,' says the LORD, 'that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.'"
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.
14 I have heard news 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."
I received this message from the Lord. He has sent a messenger to the nations: Get yourselves ready to attack Edom! Prepare for battle!
15 "For, look, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men.
Watch as I will make you insignificant compared to other nations—everyone will look down on you.
16 As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who 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.
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.
17 "Edom shall become an astonishment: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues.
People will be horrified at what's happened to Edom. Everyone passing by will be shocked, and will sneer at all its damage.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it," says the LORD, "no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live in it.
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, along with their neighboring towns, says the Lord, nobody will live there—they will become uninhabited.
19 Look, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? And who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who will stand before me?
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?
20 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 they shall drag them away, the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
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.
21 The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.
When they fall, the sound they make will make the earth shake; their cries will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.
22 Look, 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."
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.
23 Of Damascus. "Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can't be quiet.
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.
24 Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.
The people of Damascus are demoralized—they turn and run away in panic, overcome by pain and anguish like a woman in labor.
25 How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?
Why isn't the city that is praised deserted, the city that made me happy?
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day," says the LORD of hosts.
For on that day its young men will die in its streets, all its defenders will be killed, declares the Lord of Hosts.
27 "I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben Hadad."
I'm going to set fire to the walls of Damascus; that will burn down the fortresses of Ben-hadad.
28 Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. "Thus says the LORD: 'Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the people of the east.'
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!
29 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 to them, 'Terror on every side.'
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!”
30 Flee, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor," says the LORD; "for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you."
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.
31 "Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says the LORD; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.
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.
32 Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them," says the LORD.
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.
33 "Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live in it."
Hazor will become a place where jackals live, a place abandoned forever. No one will live there; it will become uninhabited.
34 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,
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.
35 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Look, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
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.
36 On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
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.
37 I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who 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, until I have consumed them;
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.
38 and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and officials,' says the LORD.
I will set up my throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials, declares the Lord.
39 'But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,' says the LORD."
However, later on I will bring the Elamites back from exile, declares the Lord.
