Jeremiah 30
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
CONCERNING THE SONS OF AMMON thus saith the Lord, Are there no sons in Israel? or have they no one to succeed [them]? wherefore has Melchol inherited Galaad, and why shall their people dwell in their cities?
2 “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will cause to be heard in Rabbath a tumult of wars; and they shall become a waste and ruined place, and her altars shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel succeed to his dominion.
3 For, behold, the days come,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will reverse the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.’”
Howl, O Esebon, for Gai has perished; cry, ye daughters of Rabbath, gird yourselves with sack-clothes, and lament; for Melchol shall go into banishment, his priests and his princes together.
4 These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
Why do ye exult in the plains of the Enakim, thou haughty daughter, that trustest in [thy] treasures, that sayest, Who shall come in to me?
5 For the LORD says: “We have heard a voice of trembling; a voice of fear, and not of peace.
Behold, I [will] bring terror upon thee, saith the Lord, from all the country round about thee; and ye shall be scattered every one right before him, and there is none to gather you.
6 Ask now, and see whether a man travails with child. Why do I see every man with his hands on his waist, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned pale?
7 Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it! It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he will be saved out of it.
8 It will come to pass in that day, says the LORD of Armies, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds. Strangers will no more make them their bondservants;
9 but they will serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.
10 Therefore don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says the LORD. Don’t be dismayed, Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar, and save your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid.
11 For I am with you, says the LORD, to save you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
12 For the LORD says, “Your hurt is incurable. Your wound is grievous.
13 There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up. You have no healing medicines.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you. They don’t seek you. For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.
15 Why do you cry over your injury? Your pain is incurable. For the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all those who devour you will be devoured. All your adversaries, everyone of them, will go into captivity. Those who plunder you will be plunder. I will make all who prey on you become prey.
17 For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds,” says the LORD, “because they have called you an outcast, saying, ‘It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.’”
18 The LORD says: “Behold, I will reverse the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city will be built on its own hill, and the palace will be inhabited in its own place.
19 Thanksgiving will proceed out of them with the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also glorify them, and they will not be small.
20 Their children also will be as before, and their congregation will be established before me. I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their prince will be one of them, and their ruler will proceed from among them. I will cause him to draw near, and he will approach me; for who is he who has had boldness to approach me?” says the LORD.
22 “You shall be my people, and I will be your God.
23 Behold, the LORD’s storm, his wrath, has gone out, a sweeping storm; it will burst on the head of the wicked.
CONCERNING DAMASCUS. Emath is brought to shame, and Arphath: for they have heard an evil report: they are amazed, they are angry, they shall be utterly unable to rest.
24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not return until he has accomplished, and until he has performed the intentions of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it.”
Damascus is utterly weakened, she is put to flight; trembling has seized upon her.
How has she not left my city, they have loved the village?
Therefore shall the young men fall in thy streets, and all thy warriors shall fall, saith the Lord.
And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the streets of the son of Ader.
CONCERNING KEDAR THE QUEEN OF THE PALACE, WHOM NABUCHODONOSOR KING OF BABYLON SMOTE, thus saith the Lord; Arise ye, and go up to Kedar, and fill the sons of Kedem.
They shall take their tents and their sheep, they shall take for themselves their garments, and all their baggage and their camels; and summon ye destruction against them from every side.
Flee ye, dig very deep for a dwelling-place, ye that dwell in the palace; for the king of Babylon has framed a counsel, and devised a device against you.
Rise up, and go up against a nation settled [and] dwelling at ease, who have no doors, nor bolts, nor bars, [who] dwell alone.
And their camels shall be a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle shall be destroyed: and I will scatter them as chaff with every wind, having their hair cut about their foreheads, I will bring on their overthrow from all sides, saith the Lord.
And the palace shall be a resting-place for ostriches, and desolate for ever: no man shall abide there, and no son of man shall dwell there.
