Jeremiah 49:7-22

Living Bible

⁷ The Lord says: Where are all your wise men of days gone by? Is there not one left in all of Teman? ⁸ Flee to the remotest parts of the desert, O people of Dedan;^[a] for when I punish Edom, I will punish you! ^9-10 Those who gather grapes leave a few for the poor, and even thieves don’t take everything, but I will strip bare the land of Esau, and there will be no place to hide. Her children, her brothers, her neighbors—all will be destroyed—and she herself will perish too. ¹¹ (But I will preserve your fatherless children who remain, and let your widows depend upon me.)

¹² The Lord says to Edom: If the innocent must suffer, how much more must you! You shall not go unpunished! You must drink this cup of judgment! ¹³ For I have sworn by my own name, says the Lord, that Bozrah shall become heaps of ruins, cursed and mocked; and her cities shall be eternal wastes.

¹⁴ I have heard this message from the Lord: I have sent a messenger to call the nations to form a coalition against Edom and destroy her. ¹⁵ I will make her weak among the nations and despised by all, says the Lord. ¹⁶ You have been fooled by your fame and your pride, living there in the mountains of Petra, in the clefts of the rocks. But though you live among the peaks with the eagles, I will bring you down, says the Lord.

¹⁷ The fate of Edom will be horrible; all who go by will be appalled and gasp at the sight. ¹⁸ Your cities will become as silent as Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, says the Lord. No one will live there anymore. ¹⁹ I will send against them one who will come like a lion from the wilds of Jordan stalking the sheep in the fold. Suddenly Edom shall be destroyed, and I will appoint over the Edomites the person of my choice. For who is like me, and who can call me to account? What shepherd can defy me?

²⁰ Take note: The Lord will certainly do this to Edom and also the people of Teman—even little children will be dragged away as slaves! It will be a shocking thing to see. ²¹ The earth shakes with the noise of Edom’s fall; the cry of the people is heard as far away as the Red Sea. ²² The one who will come will fly as swift as a vulture and will spread his wings against Bozrah. Then the courage of the mightiest warriors will disappear like that of women in labor.