Prophecies against Ammon

49 About the Ammonites,(A) this is what the Lord says:

Does Israel have no sons?
Is he without an heir?
Why then has Milcom[a][b] dispossessed Gad(B)
and his people settled in their cities?
Therefore look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will make the shout of battle(C) heard
against Rabbah of the Ammonites.
It will become a desolate mound,
and its villages will be burned down.
Israel will dispossess their dispossessors,
says the Lord.
Wail, Heshbon,(D) for Ai is devastated;
cry out, daughters of Rabbah!
Clothe yourselves with sackcloth,(E) and lament;
run back and forth within your walls,[c]
because Milcom will go into exile
together with his priests and officials.(F)
Why do you brag about your valleys,
your flowing valley,[d]
you faithless daughter?
You who trust in your treasures
and boast, “Who can attack me?”
Look, I am about to bring terror on you(G)
this is the declaration of
the Lord God of Hosts—
from all those around you.
You will be banished, each man headlong,
with no one to gather up the fugitives.
But after that, I will restore the fortunes[e] of the Ammonites.(H)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Prophecies against Edom

About Edom, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?[f]
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom rotted away?(I)
Run! Turn back! Lie low,
residents of Dedan,(J)
for I will bring Esau’s calamity on him
at the time I punish him.(K)
If grape harvesters came to you,
wouldn’t they leave some gleanings?(L)
Were thieves to come in the night,
they would destroy only what they wanted.(M)
10 But I will strip Esau bare;
I will uncover his secret places.(N)
He will try to hide himself, but he will be unable.
His descendants will be destroyed
along with his relatives and neighbors.
He will exist no longer.
11 Abandon your fatherless; I will preserve them;
let your widows trust in Me.(O)

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 remain unpunished, for you must drink it too. 13 For by Myself I have sworn”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“Bozrah[g] will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.”(P)

14 I have heard a message from the Lord;
a messenger has been sent among the nations:
Assemble yourselves to come against her.
Rise up for war!

15 Look, I will certainly make you insignificant among the nations,
despised among humanity.
16 As to the terror you cause,[h]
your presumptuous heart has deceived you.
You who live in the clefts of the rock,[i]
you who occupy the mountain summit,
though you elevate your nest like the eagle,
even from there I will bring you down.
This is the Lord’s declaration.(Q)

17 “Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds.(R) 18 As when Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,”(S) says the Lord, “no one will live there; no human being will even stay in it as a temporary resident.(T)

19 “Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets[j] of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me?(U) Who is the shepherd who 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:(V) The flock’s little lambs will certainly be dragged away,(W) and their grazing land will be made desolate because of them. 21 At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; the sound of her cry will be heard at the Red Sea.(X) 22 Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.(Y)

Prophecies against Damascus

23 About Damascus:(Z)

Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,(AA)
for they have heard a bad report and are agitated;
in the sea there is anxiety that cannot be calmed.
24 Damascus has become weak;
she has turned to run;
panic has gripped her.
Distress and labor pains have seized her
like a woman in labor.
25 How can the city of praise not be abandoned,(AB)
the town that brings Me joy?
26 Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the declaration of
the Lord of Hosts.(AC)
27 I will set fire to the wall of Damascus;
it will consume Ben-hadad’s citadels.(AD)

Prophecies against Kedar and Hazor

28 About Kedar(AE) and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar,(AF) Babylon’s king, defeated, this is what the Lord says:

Rise up, go against Kedar,
and destroy the people of the east!
29 They will take their tents and their flocks
along with their tent curtains and all their equipment.
They will take their camels for themselves.
They will call out to them:
Terror is on every side!(AG)
30 Run! Escape quickly! Lie low,
residents of Hazor—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has drawn up a plan against you;
he has devised a strategy against you.

31 Rise up, go up against a nation at ease,
one living in security.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They have no doors, not even a gate bar;
they live alone.(AH)
32 Their camels will become plunder,
and their massive herds of cattle will become spoil.(AI)
I will scatter them to the wind in every direction,
those who shave their temples;
I will bring calamity on them across all their borders.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
33 Hazor will become a jackals’ den,(AJ)
a desolation forever.
No one will live there;
no human being will even stay in it as a temporary resident.(AK)

Prophecies against Elam

34 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam[k] at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.(AL) 35 This is what the Lord of Hosts says:

I am about to shatter Elam’s bow,(AM)
the source[l] 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 banished ones will not go.
37 I will devastate Elam before their enemies,
before those who want to take their lives.
I will bring disaster on them,
My burning anger.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will send the sword after them(AN)
until I finish them off.
38 I will set My throne in Elam,
and I will destroy the king and officials from there.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

39 In the last days,
I will restore the fortunes[m] of Elam.(AO)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 49:1 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads Malkam
  2. Jeremiah 49:1 = Molech
  3. Jeremiah 49:3 Or sheep pens
  4. Jeremiah 49:4 Or about your strength, your ebbing strength
  5. Jeremiah 49:6 Or will end the captivity
  6. Jeremiah 49:7 = a region or city in Edom
  7. Jeremiah 49:13 = Edom’s capital
  8. Jeremiah 49:16 Lit Your horror
  9. Jeremiah 49:16 = Petra
  10. Jeremiah 49:19 Lit pride
  11. Jeremiah 49:34 = modern Iran
  12. Jeremiah 49:35 Lit first
  13. Jeremiah 49:39 Or will end the captivity

A Message Concerning Ammon

49 Concerning the Ammonites:[a] Thus says Yahweh,

“Are there no sons for Israel?
    Or is there no heir for him?
Why has Milcom taken possession of Gad,
    and his people dwelled in its towns?
Therefore[b] look, days are coming,” declares[c] Yahweh,
“and I will sound against Rabbah, the Ammonites,[d]
    the alarm of the war,
and it will become as a mound of desolation,
    and its daughters will burn in the fire.
Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors,” says Yahweh.
“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated.
    Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth.
    Lament and run back and forth among the walls.
For Milcom will go into exile,
    his priests and his officials together.
Why do you boast in your valleys?
    Your valleys[e] are ebbing.
O unfaithful daughter, who trusted in her treasures,
    who said, ‘Who will come against me?’
Look, I am going to bring dread on you,”
declares[f] Lord Yahweh of hosts,
    “from all your surrounding neighbors.
And you will be scattered,
    each one before it,[g]
and there is no one who gathers the fugitives.[h]
Yet afterward[i] I will restore
    the fortunes[j] of the Ammonites,”[k] declares[l] Yahweh.

A Message Concerning Edom

Concerning Edom, thus says Yahweh of hosts:

“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
    Has counsel become lost from those who understand?
    Is their wisdom rotting?
Flee! Turn back! Get down low![m]
    O inhabitants of Dedan.
For I will bring upon him the disaster of Esau
    at the time when I will punish him.
If grape-gatherers come to you,
    would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves in the night,
    they destroy only enough for them.[n]
10 But I have stripped Esau bare.
    I have uncovered his hiding places,
    and he is not able to hide himself.
His offspring are devastated, along with[o] his brothers,
    and his neighbors, and he is no more.[p]
11 Leave your orphans. I will let them[q] live.
    And your widows, let them trust in me.”

12 For thus says Yahweh, “Look, those who are not condemned[r] to drink the cup must certainly drink it.[s] And are you the one who will go entirely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must certainly drink it.[t] 13 For I have sworn by myself,” declares[u] Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become as a horror, as a disgrace, as a waste, and as a curse. And all her towns will be everlasting sites of ruins.”[v]

14 I have heard a message from Yahweh,
    and a messenger has been sent among the nations.
“Gather and come against her,
    and rise for the battle.”
15 “For look, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised by the humankind.
16 Your terror has deceived you,
    the pride of your heart,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
    you who seize the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest high like the eagle,
    from there I will bring you down,” declares[w] Yahweh.
17 “And Edom will become as a horror,
    everyone who passes by it[x] will be appalled,
    and will hiss because of all its blows.
18 As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
    and their neighbors,” says Yahweh,
no one[y] will live there,
    and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in it.
19 Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan
    to a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream.[z]
So I will chase him away hurriedly[aa] from it.
    And whoever is chosen I will appoint over it.
For who is like me, and who can summon me?
    And who is this, the shepherd who can stand before me?”[ab]
20 Therefore[ac] hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Edom,
    and his plans that he has planned against the inhabitants of Teman.
Surely[ad] they will drag them away,
    the little ones of the flock.
Surely[ae] he will cause to be desolated over them
    their grazing place.
21 The earth will quake from the sound of their falling.
    A cry of distress! Their voice will be heard at the Red Sea.[af]
22 Look, like an eagle he will go up and he will swoop down,
    and he will spread out his wings against Bozrah.
And the heart of the warriors of Edom will be in that day
    like the heart of a woman who is in labor.

A Message Concerning Damascus

23 Concerning Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad are ashamed,
    for they have heard bad news;
    they melt.
There is concern in the sea.
    It is not able to keep quiet.
24 Damascus has grown slack.
    She has turned away to flee and panic.
Anxiety has seized her,
    and labor pains have grasped her,
    like a woman in labor.
25 How the city of praise has not been abandoned!
    The city of my joy!
26 Therefore[ag] her young men will fall in her public squares,
    and all the soldiers[ah] will perish in that day,” declares[ai] Yahweh of hosts.
27 “And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus,
    and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Ben-hadad.”

A Message Concerning Kedar and the Kingdoms of Hazor

28 Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated. Thus says Yahweh:

“Rise up, go up against Kedar
    and destroy the people[aj] of the east.
29 They will take their tents, and their flocks,
    their tent curtains, and all their equipment,
and their camels they will carry away for themselves,
    and they will call to them, ‘Terror is from all around.’
30 Flee! Wander far away! Get down low![ak]
    O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares[al] Yahweh.
“For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has planned a plan against you.
    And he has schemed[am] a scheme[an] against you.
31 Rise up, go up against a nation which is at ease,
    living securely,”[ao] declares[ap] Yahweh.
There are no gates and there are no bars[aq] for them,
    they dwell alone.
32 And their camels will become as plunder,
    and the multitude of their livestock as spoil.
And I will scatter to every wind those who are trimmed to the side,
    and from every side[ar] I will bring their disaster,” declares[as] Yahweh.
33 “And Hazor will become as a lair of jackals,
    a waste forever;
no one will live there,
    and no son of humankind will dwell as an alien in it.”

A Message Concerning Elam

34 The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, saying,[at] 35 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts:

‘Look, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
    the first and best of their might.
36 And I will bring to Elam four winds,
    from the four corners of heaven,
and I will scatter them to all these winds,
    and there will not be a nation
    where the scattered people of Elam will not go.
37 So I will shatter Elam before[au] their enemies,
    and before[av] the seekers of their life.
And I will bring disaster upon them,
    my burning anger,[aw]declares[ax] Yahweh.
‘And I will send after them the sword
    until I have destroyed them.
38 And I will set my throne in Elam
    and I will destroy from there king and officials,’ declares[ay] Yahweh.
39 And then[az] in the last of the days
    I will restore the fortunes[ba] of Elam,’ declares[bb] Yahweh.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 49:1 Literally “sons of Ammon”
  2. Jeremiah 49:2 Literally “To thus”
  3. Jeremiah 49:2 Literally “a declaration of”
  4. Jeremiah 49:2 Literally “sons of Ammon”
  5. Jeremiah 49:4 Hebrew “valley”
  6. Jeremiah 49:5 Literally “a declaration of”
  7. Jeremiah 49:5 Literally “to the face of it”
  8. Jeremiah 49:5 Hebrew “fugitive”
  9. Jeremiah 49:6 Literally “after thus”
  10. Jeremiah 49:6 Hebrew “fortune”
  11. Jeremiah 49:6 Literally “sons of Ammon”
  12. Jeremiah 49:6 Literally “a declaration of”
  13. Jeremiah 49:8 Literally “make deep to dwell”
  14. Jeremiah 49:9 Literally “their enough”
  15. Jeremiah 49:10 Literally “and”
  16. Jeremiah 49:10 Literally “and not he”
  17. Jeremiah 49:11 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  18. Jeremiah 49:12 Literally “who there is not their justice”
  19. Jeremiah 49:12 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  20. Jeremiah 49:12 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  21. Jeremiah 49:13 Literally “a declaration of”
  22. Jeremiah 49:13 Literally “sites of ruins of eternity”
  23. Jeremiah 49:16 Literally “a declaration of”
  24. Jeremiah 49:17 Literally “all who passes by it”
  25. Jeremiah 49:18 Literally “not a man”
  26. Jeremiah 49:19 Literally “a pasture of everflowing”
  27. Jeremiah 49:19 Literally “I will do in an instant I will chase him away”
  28. Jeremiah 49:19 Literally “to the face of me”
  29. Jeremiah 49:20 Literally “To thus”
  30. Jeremiah 49:20 Literally “If not”
  31. Jeremiah 49:20 Literally “If not”
  32. Jeremiah 49:21 Hebrew “Sea of Reeds”
  33. Jeremiah 49:26 Literally “To thus”
  34. Jeremiah 49:26 Literally “the men of the battle”
  35. Jeremiah 49:26 Literally “a declaration of”
  36. Jeremiah 49:28 Or “sons”
  37. Jeremiah 49:30 Literally “Make deep to dwell”
  38. Jeremiah 49:30 Literally “a declaration of”
  39. Jeremiah 49:30 Or “planned”
  40. Jeremiah 49:30 Or “plan”
  41. Jeremiah 49:31 Literally “with confidence”
  42. Jeremiah 49:31 Literally “a declaration of”
  43. Jeremiah 49:31 Hebrew “bar”
  44. Jeremiah 49:32 Literally “all his sides”
  45. Jeremiah 49:32 Literally “a declaration of”
  46. Jeremiah 49:34 Literally “to say”
  47. Jeremiah 49:37 Literally “to the face of”
  48. Jeremiah 49:37 Literally “to the face of”
  49. Jeremiah 49:37 Literally “the blaze of my nose”
  50. Jeremiah 49:37 Literally “a declaration of”
  51. Jeremiah 49:38 Literally “a declaration of”
  52. Jeremiah 49:39 Literally “And it will happen”
  53. Jeremiah 49:39 Hebrew “fortune”
  54. Jeremiah 49:39 Literally “a declaration of”