A Message About Edom(A)(B)

Concerning Edom:(C)

This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?(D)
    Has counsel perished from the prudent?
    Has their wisdom decayed?
Turn and flee, hide in deep caves,(E)
    you who live in Dedan,(F)
for I will bring disaster on Esau
    at the time when I punish him.
If grape pickers came to you,
    would they not leave a few grapes?
If thieves came during the night,
    would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
10 But I will strip Esau bare;
    I will uncover his hiding places,(G)
    so that he cannot conceal himself.
His armed men are destroyed,
    also his allies and neighbors,
    so there is no one(H) to say,
11 ‘Leave your fatherless children;(I) I will keep them alive.
    Your widows(J) too can depend on me.’”

12 This is what the Lord says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup(K) must drink it, why should you go unpunished?(L) You will not go unpunished, but must drink it. 13 I swear(M) by myself,” declares the Lord, “that Bozrah(N) will become a ruin and a curse,[a] an object of horror(O) and reproach;(P) and all its towns will be in ruins forever.”(Q)

14 I have heard a message from the Lord;
    an envoy was sent to the nations to say,
“Assemble yourselves to attack it!
    Rise up for battle!”

15 “Now I will make you small among the nations,
    despised by mankind.
16 The terror you inspire
    and the pride(R) of your heart have deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks,(S)
    who occupy the heights of the hill.
Though you build your nest(T) as high as the eagle’s,
    from there I will bring you down,”
declares the Lord.
17 “Edom will become an object of horror;(U)
    all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff
    because of all its wounds.(V)
18 As Sodom(W) and Gomorrah(X) were overthrown,
    along with their neighboring towns,”
says the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
    no people will dwell(Y) in it.

19 “Like a lion(Z) coming up from Jordan’s thickets(AA)
    to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Edom from its land in an instant.
    Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?
Who is like(AB) me and who can challenge me?(AC)
    And what shepherd(AD) can stand against me?”

20 Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Edom,(AE)
    what he has purposed(AF) against those who live in Teman:(AG)
The young of the flock(AH) will be dragged away;
    their pasture will be appalled at their fate.(AI)
21 At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble;(AJ)
    their cry(AK) will resound to the Red Sea.[b]
22 Look! An eagle will soar and swoop(AL) down,
    spreading its wings over Bozrah.(AM)
In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors(AN)
    will be like the heart of a woman in labor.(AO)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 49:13 That is, its name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that it is cursed.
  2. Jeremiah 49:21 Or the Sea of Reeds

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![a]
    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.[b]
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[c] his brothers,
    and his neighbors, and he is no more.[d]
11 Leave your orphans. I will let them[e] live.
    And your widows, let them trust in me.”

12 For thus says Yahweh, “Look, those who are not condemned[f] to drink the cup must certainly drink it.[g] And are you the one who will go entirely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must certainly drink it.[h] 13 For I have sworn by myself,” declares[i] 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.”[j]

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[k] Yahweh.
17 “And Edom will become as a horror,
    everyone who passes by it[l] 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[m] 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.[n]
So I will chase him away hurriedly[o] 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?”[p]
20 Therefore[q] hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Edom,
    and his plans that he has planned against the inhabitants of Teman.
Surely[r] they will drag them away,
    the little ones of the flock.
Surely[s] 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.[t]
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.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 49:8 Literally “make deep to dwell”
  2. Jeremiah 49:9 Literally “their enough”
  3. Jeremiah 49:10 Literally “and”
  4. Jeremiah 49:10 Literally “and not he”
  5. Jeremiah 49:11 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  6. Jeremiah 49:12 Literally “who there is not their justice”
  7. Jeremiah 49:12 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  8. Jeremiah 49:12 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  9. Jeremiah 49:13 Literally “a declaration of”
  10. Jeremiah 49:13 Literally “sites of ruins of eternity”
  11. Jeremiah 49:16 Literally “a declaration of”
  12. Jeremiah 49:17 Literally “all who passes by it”
  13. Jeremiah 49:18 Literally “not a man”
  14. Jeremiah 49:19 Literally “a pasture of everflowing”
  15. Jeremiah 49:19 Literally “I will do in an instant I will chase him away”
  16. Jeremiah 49:19 Literally “to the face of me”
  17. Jeremiah 49:20 Literally “To thus”
  18. Jeremiah 49:20 Literally “If not”
  19. Jeremiah 49:20 Literally “If not”
  20. Jeremiah 49:21 Hebrew “Sea of Reeds”