Jeremiah 49

1 Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Is he without heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad? Why have his people settled in their cities?

2 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.

3 Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; run back and forth within your walls, for Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

4 Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’

5 Behold, I am about to bring terror upon you, declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, from all those around you. You will each be driven headlong, with no one to regather the fugitives.

6 Yet afterward I will restore the Ammonites from captivity,” declares the LORD.

7 Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?

8 Turn and run! Lie low, O dwellers of Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.

9 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? Were thieves to come in the night, would they not steal only what they wanted?

10 But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, and he will be unable to conceal himself. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors, and he will be no more.

11 Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”

12 For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.

13 For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”

14 I have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy has been sent to the nations: “Assemble yourselves to march against her! Rise up for battle!”

15 “For behold, I will make you small among nations, despised among men.

16 The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

17 “Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.

18 As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.

19 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”

20 Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.

21 At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; their cry will resound to the Red Sea.

22 Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

23 Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.

24 Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee. Panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her like a woman in labor.

25 How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town that brings Me joy?

26 For her young men will fall in the streets, and all her warriors will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-hadad.”

28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated, this is what the LORD says: “Rise up, advance against Kedar, and destroy the people of the east!

29 They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’

30 Run! Escape quickly! Lie low, O residents of Hazor,” declares the LORD, “for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has drawn up a plan against you; he has devised a strategy against you.

31 Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, one that dwells securely,” declares the LORD. “They have no gates or bars; they live alone.

32 Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoil. I will scatter to the wind in every direction those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them from all sides,” declares the LORD.

33 “Hazor will become a haunt for jackals, a desolation forever. No one will dwell there; no man will abide there.”

34 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.

35 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will shatter Elam’s bow, the mainstay of their might.

36 I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam’s exiles will not go.

37 So I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives. I will bring disaster upon them, even My fierce anger,” declares the LORD. “I will send out the sword after them until I finish them off.

38 I will set My throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials,” declares the LORD.

39 “Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity,” declares the LORD.

1 ¶ Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why [then] doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?

2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.

3 Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, [and] his priests and his princes together.

4 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, [saying], Who shall come unto me?

5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.

6 And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

7 ¶ Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; [Is] wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

8 Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time [that] I will visit him.

9 If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave [some] gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.

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 spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he [is] not.

11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve [them] alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

12 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment [was] not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and [art] thou he [that] shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink [of it].

13 For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.

14 I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, [saying], Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

15 For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, [and] despised among men.

16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, [and] the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

17 Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.

18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour [cities] thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who [is] a chosen [man, that] I may appoint over her? for who [is] like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who [is] that shepherd that will stand before me?

20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.

21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.

22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

23 ¶ Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; [there is] sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.

24 Damascus is waxed feeble, [and] turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on [her]: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!

26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.

27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.

28 ¶ Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.

29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear [is] on every side.

30 Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.

31 Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, [which] dwell alone.

32 And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them [that are] in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD.

33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, [and] a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor [any] son of man dwell in it.

34 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, [even] my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:

38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.

39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, [that] I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

1 Thus saith the LORD against the children of Ammon, Hath not Israel children, or hath he no heir? Why then hath Malchom the land of Gad, and his people dwell in those cities?

2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a noise of war against Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and she shall lie desolate in a heap, and her daughters shall be set on fire. And Israel shall possess them that were possessed of them, saith the LORD.

3 Howl, O Heshbon; for Al is a reprobate. Cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, and put on sackcloth; lament, and run about upon the walls. For Malchom is carried away captive, with his priests and his princes.

4 What bravest thou upon thy pastures? Thy pastures are wasted, thou disobedient daughter, which trustest in thy treasures, and sayest in thine heart, Who may make himself to me?

5 Behold, saith the LORD of hosts, I will bring fear upon thee of all that dwell round about thee, that every man may be cast out of his way before him, and there shall be none to gather the fugitives.

6 But afterward I will turn again the prison of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

7 Against Edom. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is there no more wisdom in Theman? Is there no more counsel in the wise? Is their wisdom so loose?

8 Flee, turn ye, and hide yourselves deep, ye citizens of Dedan: for I will bring an evil upon Esau, the time of his visitation.

9 Vine-gatherers shall come upon thee, which shall not let thee glean: and thieves by night shall come upon thee, which shall spoil them enough.

10 For I have made Esau bare, and have opened his secret places, that he cannot hide himself: his seed, and his brethren, and his neighbours, are cut off; there is none left of them.

11 But whatsoever remaineth of thy fatherless, to them will I give life; and thy widows shall hope in me.

12 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they that were not guilty of drinking the cup must drink, and thou shalt go unpunished? Thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt drink also.

13 For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bazrah shall be a wonder, and a reproach, and a desolation, and a curse, and all her cities a desolation for ever.

14 I have heard of the LORD, that a message is sent unto the Gentiles, saying, Gather yourselves together, and come against them; arise to the battle.

15 For, behold, I have made thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.

16 Thine indignation and the pride of thine heart have deceived thee, because thou dwellest in the clefts of the rock, and hast high mountains in thine heart. Though thou make thy nest as high as the eagle, yet will I bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

17 And Edom shall be desolate: and all they that pass by shall marvel and whistle at all their plagues,

18 As Sodom and Gomorrha are turned back, and their neighbours with them, saith the LORD, Let no man dwell there, neither let any man dwell therein.

19 For, behold, he cometh up as a lion from the proud Jordan against the strong hold: for there will I make him to run in haste. And who knoweth who the young man is, whom I will prepare against them? For who is like unto me? Who will master me, and who is the shepherd that can withstand me?

20 Hear therefore the counsel of the LORD which he hath concerning Edom, and his thoughts which he hath concerning the inhabitants of Theman. What matter if the shepherds drag them, and destroy their habitation?

21 That the earth shall tremble when it falls one upon another; and their cry shall be heard in the Red sea.

22 Behold, he shall soar like an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Bazrah. In that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in childbearing.

23 Against Damascus. Hemath and Arpad stand miserable; they are despondent, for they hear an evil cry; they that dwell by the sea are so terrified that they cannot have rest.

24 Damascus is despondent, and giveth flight; she fidgeteth, and is in anguish and pain, as a woman in childbearing.

25 How, is it not now deserted, the famous and joyful city?

26 Therefore their young men shall lie down in their streets, and all their men of war shall perish in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.

27 And I will set on fire the walls of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.

28 Against Kedar, and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote. Thus saith the LORD; Go up to Kedar, and destroy the children to morrow.

29 They shall take away their tents, and their flocks; their tents, and all their vessels, and their camels, shall they carry away: and they shall cry terribly upon them round about.

30 Flee, get thee quickly out of this place. Hide yourselves deep, ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD: for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath a purpose against you, and meaneth you.

31 Come ye up against a people that have plenty, and dwell safely, saith the LORD: they have neither door nor latch, and dwell alone.

32 And their camels shall be spoiled, and the multitude of their cattle shall be taken; and I will scatter them to the winds that dwell in the corners; and from every place will I cause their calamity to come upon them, saith the LORD,

33 And Hazor shall be a dragon's habitation, and an everlasting desolation, and none shall dwell there, neither shall any man dwell therein.

34 This is the word of the LORD, which came unto Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the kingdom of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, their chief power.

36 And I will cause the four winds to come upon them out of the four places of heaven, and will scatter them in all the same winds: and there shall not be a nation whither there shall not come exiles out of Elam.

37 And I will make Elam despondent before their enemies, and before them that seek their life, and will bring evil upon them with my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.

38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy both the king and the princes there, saith the LORD.

39 But in time to come I will turn again the prison of Elam, saith the LORD.