Jeremiah 49:1-6
Expanded Bible
A Message to Ammon
49 This message is to the ·Ammonite people [L sons of Ammon; Gen. 19:30–38; Deut. 2:19; 23:3–6].
This is what the Lord says:
“Do you think that Israel has no children?
Do you think there is no ·one to take the land when the parents die [L heir]?
If that were true, why did Molech [C the chief god of Ammon] take Gad’s [C a tribe in the north of Israel] land
and why did Molech’s people settle in Gad’s towns [C a bitter reference to the sacrifice of children to Molech]?”
2 The Lord says,
“The ·time will come [L days are coming] when I will make Rabbah
of the Ammonites [C its capital], hear the battle cry.
It will become a ·hill covered with ruins [desolate ruin],
and the ·towns [villages; L daughters] around it will be burned with fire.
Those people ·forced [dispossessed] Israel out of that land,
but now Israel will ·force them out [dispossess them]!” says the Lord.
3 “People in the town of Heshbon, ·cry sadly [wail] because the town of Ai is destroyed!
·Those who live in [L Daughters of] Rabbah, cry out!
Put on your ·rough cloth to show your sadness [sackcloth; burlap], and ·cry loudly [mourn; wail].
Run here and there for safety inside the walls,
because Molech will be taken ·captive [into exile]
and his priests and officers with him.
4 ·You [L Why do you…?] brag about your valleys
and about the fruit in your valleys.
You are like an ·unfaithful [rebellious] ·child [L daughter]
who ·believes her treasures will save her [L trusts/has confidence in her treasures/arsenals].
You think, ‘Who would attack me?’
5 I will soon bring terror on you
from everyone around you,”
says the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
“You will all be ·forced to run [driven] away,
and no one will be able to gather you.
6 “But the time will come
when I will ·make good things happen to [restore the fortunes of] the ·Ammonites [L sons of Ammon] again,”
says the Lord.
Jeremiah 49:1-6
Amplified Bible
Prophecy against Ammon
49 Concerning the [a]sons (descendants) of Ammon.
Thus says the Lord:
“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?
Has he no heir?
Why then has [b]Malcam taken possession of Gad
And [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?
2
“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will cause an alarm of war to be heard
Against Rabbah of the Ammonites;
And it [along with the high ground on which it stands] will become a desolate heap,
And its villages will be set on fire.
Then will Israel take possession of his possessors,”
Says the Lord.(A)
3
“Wail, O [c]Heshbon, for Ai [in Ammon] has been destroyed!
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!
Wrap yourselves with sackcloth and lament (cry out in grief),
And rush back and forth inside the enclosures;
For Malcam [your powerless god] will go into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
4
“Why do you boast of your valleys?
Your valley is flowing away,
[O Ammon] rebellious and faithless daughter
Who trusts in her treasures, saying,
‘Who will come against me?’
5
“Behold, I am going to bring terror on you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts,
“From all who are around you;
And each of you will be driven out headlong,
And there will be no one to gather the fugitives together.
6
“But [d]afterward I will reverse
The captivity of the children of Ammon and restore their fortunes,”
Says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 49:1 When the tribes of the Northern Kingdom were taken captive in 734-732 b.c., the Ammonites, a nomadic, warlike people descended from Lot through his younger daughter, moved into the territory of the tribe of Gad east of the Jordan.
- Jeremiah 49:1 Malcam or Milcom (1 Kin 11:5, 33; Zeph 1:5) was the national god of the Ammonites. Other variant forms of this name include Milcham and Malcham.
- Jeremiah 49:3 Originally a Moabite town, Heshbon was located south of Ammon.
- Jeremiah 49:6 As complete and continuous as the desolation of Moab and Ammon was for so many centuries, yet God is keeping His word for their restoration “in the latter days” (48:47) in a remarkable manner. For instance, Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (formerly called Transjordania, and in ancient times, Rabbath of Ammon or the City of Waters), was a mere village in 1900, but by the year 2000 it was a city of almost 2,000,000 inhabitants.
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