Jeremiah 49
Contemporary English Version
What the Lord Says about Ammon
49 The Lord has this to say about the nation of Ammon:
The people of Israel
have plenty of children
to inherit their lands.
So why have you worshipers
of the god Milcom[a]
taken over towns and land
belonging to the Gad tribe?
2 Someday I will send an army
to attack you in Rabbah,
your capital city.
It will be left in ruins,
and the surrounding villages
will lie in ashes.
You took some of Israel’s land,
but on that day
Israel will take yours!
3 Cry, people of Heshbon;[b]
your town will become
a pile of rubble.[c]
You will turn here and there,
but your path will be blocked.[d]
Put on sackcloth[e] and mourn,
you citizens of Rabbah,
because the idol you worship[f]
will be taken
to a foreign country,
along with its priests
and temple officials.
4 You rebellious Ammonites
trust your wealth
and ask,
“Who could attack us?”
But I warn you not to boast
when your strength is fading.[g]
5 I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will send neighboring nations
to strike you with terror.
You will be scattered,
with no one to care
for your refugees.
6 Yet someday, I will bring
your people back home.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
What the Lord Says about Edom
7-8 The Lord All-Powerful says about Edom:
Wisdom and common sense
have vanished from Teman.[h]
I will send disaster to punish
you descendants of Esau,[i]
so anyone from Dedan[j]
had better turn around
and run back home.[k]
9 People who harvest grapes
leave some for the poor.
Thieves who break in at night
take only what they want.
10 But I will take everything
that belongs to you,
people of Edom,
and I will uncover every place
where you try to hide.
Then you will die,
and so will your children,
relatives, and neighbors.
11 But I can be trusted
to care for your orphans
and widows.
12 Even those nations that don’t deserve to be punished will have to drink from the cup of my anger. So how can you possibly hope to escape? 13 I, the Lord, swear in my own name that your city of Bozrah[l] and all your towns will suffer a horrible fate. They will lie in ruins forever, and people will use the name “Bozrah” as a curse word.
14 I have sent a messenger
to command the nations
to prepare for war
against you people of Edom.
15 Your nation will be small,
yet hated by other nations.
16 Pride tricks you into thinking
that other nations
look at you with fear.[m]
You live along the cliffs
and high in the mountains
like the eagles,
but I am the Lord,
and I will bring you down.
17 People passing by your country
will be shocked and horrified
to see a disaster
18 as bad as the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah
and towns nearby.
The towns of Edom will be empty.
19 I will attack you
like a lion from the forest,
attacking sheep in a meadow
along the Jordan.
In a moment the flock runs,
and the land is empty.
Who will I choose to attack you?
I will do it myself!
No one can force me to fight
or chase me away.
20 Listen to my plans for you,
people of Edom.[n]
Your children will be dragged off
and your country destroyed.
21 The sounds of your destruction
will reach the Red Sea[o]
and cause the earth to shake.
22 An enemy will swoop down
to attack you,
like an eagle spreading its wings
and circling over Bozrah.
Your warriors will be gripped
by fear.[p]
What the Lord Says about Damascus
23 The Lord says about Damascus:
The towns of Hamath and Arpad[q]
have heard your bad news.
They have lost hope,
and worries roll over them
like ocean waves.[r]
24 You people of Damascus
have lost your courage,
and in panic you turn to run,
gripped by fear and pain.[s]
25 I once was pleased
with your famous city.
But now I warn you, “Escape
while you still can!”[t]
26 Soon, even your best soldiers
will lie dead in your streets.
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
have spoken.
27 I will set fire to your city walls
and burn down the fortresses
King Benhadad built.
Nebuchadnezzar and the People of the Desert
28 Here is what the Lord says about the Kedar tribe and the desert villages[u] that were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar[v] of Babylonia:
Listen, you people of Kedar
and the other tribes
of the eastern desert.
I have told Nebuchadnezzar
to attack and destroy you.
29 His fearsome army
will surround you,
taking your tents and possessions,
your sheep and camels.
30 Run and hide,
you people of the desert
who live in villages![w]
Nebuchadnezzar has big plans
for you.
31 You have no city walls
and no neighbors to help,
yet you think you’re safe—
so I told him to attack.
32 Then your camels
and large herds
will be yours no longer.
People of the Arabian Desert,[x]
disaster will strike you
from every side,
and you will be scattered
everywhere on earth.
33 Only jackals[y] will live
where your villages[z] once stood.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
What the Lord Says about Elam
34-35 Not long after Zedekiah[aa] became king of Judah, the Lord told me to say:
People of Elam,[ab]
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will kill the archers
who make your army strong.
36 Enemies will attack
from all directions,
and you will be led captive
to every nation on earth.
37 Their armies will crush
and kill you,
and you will face the disaster
that my anger brings.
38 Your king and his officials
will die,
and I will rule
in their place.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
39 But I promise that someday
I will bring your people
back to their land.
Footnotes
- 49.1 Milcom: The national god of Ammon, probably the same as the god Molech in 32.35.
- 49.3 Heshbon: See also 48.45; since Heshbon was near the border of Moab and Ammon, it was probably ruled by the country that was stronger at the time.
- 49.3 your town will become a pile of rubble: Or “because the town of Ai has been destroyed”; referring to an Ammonite town named Ai, not the town of that name near Bethel in the land of Israel.
- 49.3 You will turn. . . blocked: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 49.3 sackcloth: See the note at 4.8.
- 49.3 the idol you worship: Hebrew “Milcom” (see verse 1 and the note there).
- 49.4 when. . . fading: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 49.7,8 Teman: The name of a town in Edom, sometimes used as the name of the northern half of the nation of Edom; here it probably stands for the whole nation.
- 49.7,8 Esau: The ancestor of the nation of Edom.
- 49.7,8 Dedan: The name of a town in northwest Arabia, also used of the northwest region of Arabia along the Red Sea.
- 49.7,8 anyone. . . home: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 49.13 Bozrah: The main city and capital of Edom.
- 49.16 Pride. . . fear: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 49.20 Edom: The Hebrew text also uses the name “Teman” (see the note at verses 7-8).
- 49.21 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the northeastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at Exodus 13.18).
- 49.22 will be gripped by fear: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 49.23 Hamath and Arpad: Two towns in Syria that had been the capitals of small kingdoms allied with the more powerful kingdom whose capital was Damascus.
- 49.23 worries. . . waves: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 49.24 gripped by fear and pain: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 49.25 can: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 25.
- 49.28 desert villages: The Hebrew text has “kingdoms of Hazor,” which probably refers to several kingdoms of desert peoples who were not nomads, but who lived in small villages.
- 49.28 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2.
- 49.30 villages: See the note at 49.28.
- 49.32 People of the Arabian Desert: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 49.33 jackals: See the note at 9.11.
- 49.33 villages: See the note at 49.28.
- 49.34,35 Zedekiah: See the note at 1.3.
- 49.34,35 Elam: A nation east of Babylonia, attacked by Nebuchadnezzar about 596 B.C.
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