Jeremiah 49

English Standard Version

Judgment on Ammon

49 ^(A)Concerning the Ammonites.

Thus says the Lord:

“Has Israel no sons?
    Has he no heir?
Why then has ^(B)Milcom^[a] ^(C)dispossessed Gad,
    and his people settled in its cities?
²Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
    declares the Lord,
when I will cause ^(D)the battle cry to be heard
    against ^(E)Rabbah of the Ammonites;
it shall become a desolate ^(F)mound,
    and its villages shall be burned with fire;
then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,
    says the Lord.

³“Wail, O ^(G)Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
    Cry out, O daughters of ^(H)Rabbah!
^(I)Put on sackcloth,
    lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!
For ^(J)Milcom shall go into exile,
    ^(K)with his priests and his officials.
⁴Why do you boast of your valleys,^[b]
    ^(L)O faithless daughter,
^(M)who trusted in her treasures, saying,
    ‘Who will come against me?’
⁵Behold, ^(N)I will bring terror upon you,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
    from all who are around you,
and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,
    with none to gather the fugitives.

⁶“But ^(O)afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord.”

Judgment on Edom

⁷Concerning ^(P)Edom.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(Q)“Is wisdom no more in ^(R)Teman?
    ^(S)Has counsel perished from the prudent?
    ^(T)Has their wisdom vanished?
⁸^(U)Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of ^(V)Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
    ^(W)the time when I punish him.
⁹^(X)If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave ^(Y)gleanings?
^(Z)If thieves came by night,
    would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
¹⁰^(AA)But I have stripped Esau bare;
    ^(AB)I have uncovered his hiding places,
    and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
    and his neighbors; and ^(AC)he is no more.
¹¹^(AD)Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
    ^(AE)and let your widows trust in me.”

¹²For thus says the Lord: ^(AF)“If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, ^(AG)will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. ¹³^(AH)For I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that ^(AI)Bozrah shall become ^(AJ)a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”

¹⁴^(AK)I have heard a message from the Lord,
    and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
^(AL)“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
    and rise up for battle!
¹⁵For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised among mankind.
¹⁶The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,^[c]
    who hold the height of the hill.
Though you ^(AM)make your nest as high as the eagle's,
    I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.

¹⁷^(AN)“Edom shall become a horror. ^(AO)Everyone who passes by it will be horrified ^(AP)and will hiss because of all its disasters. ¹⁸^(AQ)As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their ^(AR)neighboring cities were overthrown, says the Lord, ^(AS)no man shall dwell there, ^(AT)no man shall sojourn in her. ¹⁹^(AU)Behold, ^(AV)like a lion coming up from ^(AW)the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him^[d] run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. ^(AX)For who is like me? ^(AY)Who will summon me? ^(AZ)What shepherd can stand before me? ²⁰Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against ^(BA)Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of ^(BB)Teman: ^(BC)Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ²¹At the sound of their fall ^(BD)the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. ²²Behold, ^(BE)one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against ^(BF)Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart ^(BG)of a woman in her birth pains.”

Judgment on Damascus

²³Concerning ^(BH)Damascus:

^(BI)“Hamath and ^(BJ)Arpad are confounded,
    for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
    ^(BK)they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
²⁴^(BL)Damascus has become feeble, ^(BM)she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
    as ^(BN)of a woman in labor.
²⁵How is ^(BO)the famous city not forsaken,
    the city of my joy?
²⁶^(BP)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
    and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the Lord of hosts.
²⁷And ^(BQ)I will kindle a fire in the wall of ^(BR)Damascus,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of ^(BS)Ben-hadad.”

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

²⁸Concerning ^(BT)Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.

Thus says the Lord:
^(BU)“Rise up, advance against ^(BV)Kedar!
    Destroy ^(BW)the people of the east!
²⁹^(BX)Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,
    their ^(BY)curtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
    and men shall cry to them: ^(BZ)‘Terror on every side!’
³⁰^(CA)Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of Hazor!
declares the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
    has made a plan against you
    and formed a purpose against you.

³¹^(CB)“Rise up, advance against a nation ^(CC)at ease,
    ^(CD)that dwells securely,
declares the Lord,
^(CE)that has no gates or bars,
    that dwells alone.
³²^(CF)Their camels shall become plunder,
    their herds of livestock a spoil.
^(CG)I will scatter to every wind
    ^(CH)those who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity
    from every side of them,
declares the Lord.
³³Hazor shall become ^(CI)a haunt of jackals,
    an everlasting waste;
^(CJ)no man shall dwell there;
    ^(CK)no man shall sojourn in her.”

Judgment on Elam

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning ^(CL)Elam, in the beginning of the reign of ^(CM)Zedekiah king of Judah.

³⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will break ^(CN)the bow of ^(CO)Elam, the mainstay of their might. ³⁶And I will bring upon ^(CP)Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of ^(CQ)Elam shall not come. ³⁷I will ^(CR)terrify ^(CS)Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, ^(CT)my fierce anger, declares the Lord. ^(CU)I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, ³⁸and I will set my throne in ^(CV)Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.

³⁹“But in the latter days ^(CW)I will restore the fortunes of ^(CX)Elam, declares the Lord.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 49:1 Or their king; also verse 3
Jeremiah 49:4 Hebrew boast of your valleys, your valley flows
Jeremiah 49:16 Or of Sela
Jeremiah 49:19 Septuagint, Syriac them

Jeremiah 13

English Standard Version

The Ruined Loincloth

13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^(A)put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” ²So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. ³And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, ⁴“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, ^(B)go to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^(C)a cleft of the rock.” ⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. ⁶And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there ^(D)the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^(E)the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^(F)spoiled; it was ^(G)good for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“Thus says the Lord: ^(H)Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ^(I)pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^(J)who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ^(K)good for nothing. ¹¹For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, ^(L)that they might be for me a people, ^(M)a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

The Jars Filled with Wine

¹²“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that ^(N)every jar will be filled with wine?’ ¹³Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(O)Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: ^(P)the kings who sit on David's throne, ^(Q)the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁴And I will ^(R)dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Exile Threatened

¹⁵Hear and give ear; be not proud,
    for the Lord has spoken.
¹⁶^(S)Give glory to the Lord your God
    ^(T)before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
    on the twilight mountains,
and ^(U)while you look for light
    he turns it into gloom
    and makes it ^(V)deep darkness.
¹⁷But if you will not listen,
    ^(W)my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
    because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to ^(X)the king and ^(Y)the queen mother:
    “Take a lowly seat,
for ^(Z)your beautiful crown
    has come down from your head.”
¹⁹^(AA)The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
    with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
    wholly taken into exile.

²⁰“Lift up your eyes ^(AB)and see
    those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
    your beautiful flock?
²¹What will you say when they set as head over you
    those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
^(AC)Will not pangs take hold of you
    like those of a woman in labor?
²²And if you say in your heart,
    ^(AD)‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
    that ^(AE)your skirts are lifted up
    and you suffer violence.
²³^(AF)Can the Ethiopian change his skin
    or ^(AG)the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
    who are accustomed to do evil.
²⁴I will scatter you^[a] ^(AH)like chaff
    driven by the wind from the desert.
²⁵^(AI)This is your lot,
    the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because ^(AJ)you have forgotten me
    and trusted in lies.
²⁶^(AK)I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
    and your shame will be seen.
²⁷I have seen ^(AL)your abominations,
    your adulteries and ^(AM)neighings, your lewd whorings,
    ^(AN)on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
    How long will it be ^(AO)before you are made clean?”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 13:24 Hebrew them

Jeremiah 22

English Standard Version

22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, ²and say, ^(A)‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. ³Thus says the Lord: ^(B)Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And ^(C)do no wrong or violence ^(D)to the resident alien, ^(E)the fatherless, and the widow, nor ^(F)shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you will indeed obey this word, ^(G)then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. ⁵But if you will not obey these words, I ^(H)swear by myself, declares the Lord, that ^(I)this house shall become a desolation. ⁶For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“‘You are like Gilead to me,
    like the summit of ^(J)Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
    ^(K)an uninhabited city.^[a]
⁷^(L)I will prepare destroyers against you,
    each with his weapons,
^(M)and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
    and cast them into the fire.

⁸“‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, ^(N)“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” ⁹^(O)And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

¹⁰^(P)Weep not for him who is dead,
    nor grieve for him,
^(Q)but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
    for he shall return no more
    to see his native land.

Message to the Sons of Josiah

¹¹For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and ^(R)who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, ¹²but ^(S)in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

¹³^(T)“Woe to him who builds his house by ^(U)unrighteousness,
    and his upper rooms by injustice,
^(V)who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
    and does not give him his wages,
¹⁴who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
    with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
    paneling it with cedar
    and ^(W)painting it with vermilion.
¹⁵Do you think you are a king
    because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
    and ^(X)do justice and righteousness?
    ^(Y)Then it was well with him.
¹⁶^(Z)He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
    ^(AA)then it was well.
Is not this ^(AB)to know me?
    declares the Lord.
¹⁷But you have eyes and heart
    only for your dishonest gain,
^(AC)for shedding innocent blood,
    and for practicing oppression and violence.”

¹⁸Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

^(AD)“They shall not lament for him, saying,
    ^(AE)‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
    ^(AF)‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
¹⁹With the burial of a donkey ^(AG)he shall be buried,
    dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”

²⁰“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
    and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from ^(AH)Abarim,
    for all ^(AI)your lovers are destroyed.
²¹I spoke to you in your prosperity,
    but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
^(AJ)This has been your way from ^(AK)your youth,
    that you have not obeyed my voice.
²²^(AL)The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
    and ^(AM)your lovers shall go into captivity;
^(AN)then you will be ashamed and confounded
    because of all your evil.
²³O inhabitant of ^(AO)Lebanon,
    nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
    ^(AP)pain as of a woman in labor!”

²⁴^(AQ)“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^(AR)the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off ²⁵and ^(AS)give you ^(AT)into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶^(AU)I will hurl you and ^(AV)the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. ²⁷But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

²⁸Is this man ^(AW)Coniah a despised, broken pot,
    a ^(AX)vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
    into a ^(AY)land that they do not know?
²⁹^(AZ)O land, land, land,
    hear the word of the Lord!
³⁰Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as ^(BA)childless,
    a man who shall not succeed in his days,
^(BB)for none of his offspring shall succeed
    ^(BC)in sitting on the throne of David
    and ruling again in Judah.”