Jeremiah 49
1 [This message is] about the Ammon people-group. This is what Yahweh says: “There are [RHQ] plenty of Israeli people left to occupy [the land of the tribe of] Gad. So, why are [RHQ] [the people who worship the god] Molech living in those towns?
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?
2 There will be a time when I will sound the battle-cry [for their enemies] to attack [their capital city], Rabbah. [Then] it will become a heap of ruins, and [all] the nearby towns will be burned. Then [the people of] Israel will again possess the land that the Ammon people-group took away from them.
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.
3 You people of Heshbon [city] [MTY], wail, because Ai [town nearby] will be destroyed. You people of Rabbah [city], weep; put on (rough clothing/sackcloth) [to show you are mourning]; run back and forth [in confusion] inside the city walls, because [your god] Milcom, along with its priests and officials, will be taken away (in exile/to other countries).
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.
4 You are [RHQ] very proud of your very fertile valleys, [but they will soon be ruined]. You rebellious people, you trusted in your wealth, and you said, ‘Certainly no [RHQ] army will be able to attack us!’
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?
5 But listen to this: 'I, the Commander of the armies of angels, will cause you to become terrified. You will all be forced to flee [to other countries], and no one will be able to bring you together [again].'
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.
6 But some day I will enable the Ammon people-group to return to their land. [That will surely happen, because I, ] Yahweh, have said it.”
And afterward will I bring back again the captivity of the children of 'Ammon, saith the Lord.
7 [This message is] about the Edom people-group. This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “It seems that [RHQ] there are no wise people in Teman [district in Edom]! There are no people left who can give others [good] advice. The people who were wise [PRS] have disappeared.
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?
8 You people of Dedan [city in the south of Edom], turn and flee and hide in deep [caves], because when I cause the Edom people-group to experience disaster, I will punish you, too.
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.
9 Those who harvest grapes always [RHQ] leave some on the vines. When thieves come at night, they surely [RHQ] steal only as much as they want.
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;
10 But I will cause everything in Edom to be destroyed, and there will be nothing left, and there will be no place for people to hide. [Many of] [HYP] the children, their relatives and their neighbors, will die, and Edom will not exist any more.
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.
11 But I will protect the orphans, and the widows [also] will [be able to] depend on me [to help them].”
Leave thy fatherless children, I will have to preserve them alive: and thy widows must trust in me.
12 And this is [also] what Yahweh says: “If those who do not deserve to suffer [MET] must suffer, you people of Edom must [RHQ] suffer much more [DOU]! You will not escape being punished.
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.
13 I, Yahweh, have solemnly promised, using my own name, that [your chief city] Bozrah will become a place that people will be horrified about. It will be a heap of ruins. People will make fun of it and use its name when they curse people. All the nearby towns and villages will be a ruins forever.”
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.
14 I heard this message from Yahweh: “I have sent an ambassador to [many] nations, [to tell them to] gather together to attack Edom. They must prepare for battle!”
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.
15 [And Yahweh says to the people of Edom, ] “I will cause your nation to become very unimportant among the [other] nations. They will all despise your country.
For, lo, I render thee small among the nations, despised among men.
16 You have caused [people of other nations] to be terrified, and you [MTY] have been very proud, but you have deceived yourselves. You live in caves in the rock cliffs; [you think that you are safe there because] you live high up there. But even if you make your homes as high up as the eagles’ nests, I will cause you to come [crashing] down.
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.
17 Edom will become a place about which people are horrified; people who pass by will be horrified and will (gasp/be shocked) when they see the destruction.
And Edom shall become [an object of] astonishment: every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its wounds.
18 Edom will be destroyed as [completely as] Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns were destroyed [long ago]. [As a result, ] no one will live there [any more] [DOU].
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.
19 I will come to Edom [suddenly] like [SIM] a lion comes out of the jungle and [leaps on the sheep that are] eating in the good pastureland. I will quickly chase the people of Edom from their land. And [then] I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose; [I can do that] because there is no one [RHQ] like me who can object to what I do. No ruler can oppose me.
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?
20 Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Teman [town] and [the rest of] Edom: Even the little children will be dragged away, and I will completely get rid of the people [MET] who live there.
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.
21 When Edom is destroyed, the noise [will be extremely great], with the result that the earth will shake, and the wailing of the people will be heard [as far away as] the Red Sea.
At the noise of their fall the earth quaketh: [there is] an outcry, —at the Red Sea their voice is heard.
22 Look! The enemy troops will swoop/rush down over Bozrah like an eagle spreads its wings when it swoops down [to seize an animal]. On that day, [even the strongest] warriors of Edom will [be afraid] like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth.”
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.
23 [This message is] about Damascus. [This is what Yahweh says]: “[The people in the nearby cities of] Hamath and Arpad are confused, because they have heard bad news [about Damascus]. They are very anxious and restless, like [SIM] a sea in a big storm.
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.
24 The people of Damascus have become very weak, and [they all] have (panicked/fled [because] they are very afraid). The people are anguished and in pain like [SIM] a woman [experiences] who is about to give birth.
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.
25 That famous city, that I was [previously] pleased with, will be abandoned.
“How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town of my joy!”
26 Its young men will fall in the streets. Its soldiers will all be killed in one day.
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.
27 And I, the Commander of the armies of angels, will start a fire to burn the walls that surround Damascus, and the palaces of [King] Ben-Hadad will be burned down.”
And I will kindle a fire on the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.
28 [This is a message] about the Kedar [people-group] and the kingdom of Hazor which [the army of] Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon attacked. This is what Yahweh says: “[I will cause an army to] advance to attack Kedar and destroy those people who live east [of Judah].
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.
29 Their tents and their flocks [of sheep] will be captured. The curtains [in their tents] and their camels and their other possessions will be taken away. [Everywhere] men will shout, ‘We are terrified [because terrible things are happening] all around us!’
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.
30 So [I, ] Yahweh, say, ‘Run away [quickly]! You people who live in Hazor, go and hide in deep [caves], because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon wants to attack you [with his army]; he is planning to destroy you!’
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.
31 But I say [to Nebuchadnezzar], ‘Go up and attack that nation whose people feel secure; they do not have allies [who will help them] and do not have [walls with] gates that have bars in them.
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.
32 Your troops will seize their camels and [other] livestock. I will scatter in every direction [IDM] those people who live in remote places (OR, who cut their hair short). I will cause them to experience disasters from every direction.
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.
33 Hazor will become a place where jackals/wolves live, and it will be deserted forever. No one will live there again; no one will settle there [DOU].’”
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.
34 I received this message from Yahweh when King Zedekiah was starting to rule Judah.
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,
35 This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “The men of Elam are famous (archers/men who shoot arrows well); that is how they have made their country very powerful. But I will get rid of them [MET].
Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow of 'Elam, the chief of their strength.
36 I will bring their enemies from all directions [IDM, DOU], and they will scatter the people of Elam in all directions. The people of Elam will be exiled to every nation on the earth [LIT, HYP].
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.
37 Because I am very angry with the people of Elam, I will enable their enemies to smash Elam; I will cause the people of Elam to experience great disasters. I will enable their enemies, who want to kill them, to pursue them [and kill them] with swords until I completely get rid of all of them.
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.
38 I, Yahweh, will judge them there [MTY], and [then] I will get rid of their king and [his] officials.
And I will set up my throne in 'Elam, and I will destroy thence king and princes, saith the Lord.
39 But some day, I will enable the people of Elam to return to their land. [That will surely happen because I, ] Yahweh, have said it.”
But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring back again the captivity of 'Elam, saith the Lord.
