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?
Of the children of Ammon. The LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its 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, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and it will become a desolate heap, and her daughters will be burnt with fire; then Israel will possess those who possessed him,” says 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, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourself in sackcloth. Lament, and run back and forth amongst the fences; for Malcam will go into captivity, his priests 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!’
Why do you boast in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come to 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 a terror on you,” says the Lord, GOD of Hosts, “from all who are around you. All of you will be driven completely out, and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives.
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.”
“But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,” says 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.
Of Edom, the LORD of Hosts says: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?
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.
Flee! Turn back! Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him.
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 came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had enough?
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 places, and he will not be able to hide himself. His offspring is destroyed, with his brothers and his neighbours; 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 your fatherless children. I will preserve them alive. Let your widows 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 the LORD says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished, but you will surely drink.
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 I have sworn by myself,” says the LORD, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.”
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!”
I have heard news from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent amongst the nations, saying, “Gather yourselves together! Come against her! 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, behold, I have made you small amongst the nations, and despised amongst 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.
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.
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.
“Edom will become an astonishment. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its plagues.
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].
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbour cities,” says the LORD, “no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live 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, he will 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, I will appoint him over it. For who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who will 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 has taken against Edom, and his purposes that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they will drag them away, the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them.
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.
The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Sea of Suf.
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, he will come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah. The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be 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.
Of Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard evil news. They have melted away. There is sorrow on the sea. It can’t 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 has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of 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 city of my joy?
26 Its young men will fall in the streets. Its soldiers will all be killed in one day.
Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says 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.”
“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will devour 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].
Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck, The LORD says: “Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children 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!’
They will take their tents and their flocks. they will carry away for themselves their curtains, all their vessels, and their camels; and they will cry to them, ‘Terror 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! 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.
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! Go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care,” says the LORD; “that has neither gates nor bars, that dwells 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.
Their camels will be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a plunder. 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.
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].’”
Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever. No man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein.”
34 I received this message from Yahweh when King Zedekiah was starting to rule Judah.
The LORD’s word 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 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].
“The LORD of Hosts says: ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
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].
I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them towards all those winds. There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come.
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.
I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. 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.
38 I, Yahweh, will judge them there [MTY], and [then] I will get rid of their king and [his] officials.
I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes,’ says 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 will happen in the latter days that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says the LORD.”
