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Messages about Edom

This message was given concerning Edom. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:

“Is there no wisdom in Teman?
    Is no one left to give wise counsel?
Turn and flee!
    Hide in deep caves, you people of Dedan!
For when I bring disaster on Edom,[a]
    I will punish you, too!
Those who harvest grapes
    always leave a few for the poor.
If thieves came at night,
    they would not take everything.
10 But I will strip bare the land of Edom,
    and there will be no place left to hide.
Its children, its brothers, and its neighbors
    will all be destroyed,
    and Edom itself will be no more.
11 But I will protect the orphans who remain among you.
    Your widows, too, can depend on me for help.”

12 And this is what the Lord says: “If the innocent must suffer, how much more must you! You will not go unpunished! You must drink this cup of judgment! 13 For I have sworn by my own name,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror and a heap of ruins; it will be mocked and cursed. All its towns and villages will be desolate forever.”

14 I have heard a message from the Lord
    that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say,
“Form a coalition against Edom,
    and prepare for battle!”

15 The Lord says to Edom,
“I will cut you down to size among the nations.
    You will be despised by all.
16 You have been deceived
    by the fear you inspire in others
    and by your own pride.
You live in a rock fortress
    and control the mountain heights.
But even if you make your nest among the peaks with the eagles,
    I will bring you crashing down,”
    says the Lord.

17 “Edom will be an object of horror.
    All who pass by will be appalled
    and will gasp at the destruction they see there.
18 It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
    and their neighboring towns,” says the Lord.
“No one will live there;
    no one will inhabit it.
19 I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan,
    leaping on the sheep in the pasture.
I will chase Edom from its land,
    and I will appoint the leader of my choice.
For who is like me, and who can challenge me?
    What ruler can oppose my will?”

20 Listen to the Lord’s plans against Edom
    and the people of Teman.
Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep,
    and their homes will be destroyed.
21 The earth will shake with the noise of Edom’s fall,
    and its cry of despair will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.[b]
22 Look! The enemy swoops down like an eagle,
    spreading his wings over Bozrah.
Even the mightiest warriors will be in anguish
    like a woman in labor.

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Footnotes

  1. 49:8 Hebrew Esau; also in 49:10.
  2. 49:21 Hebrew sea of reeds.

Judgment on Edom

Concerning (A)Edom.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

(B)“Is wisdom no more in (C)Teman?
    (D)Has counsel perished from the prudent?
    (E)Has their wisdom vanished?
(F)Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of (G)Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
    (H)the time when I punish him.
(I)If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave (J)gleanings?
(K)If thieves came by night,
    would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
10 (L)But I have stripped Esau bare;
    (M)I have uncovered his hiding places,
    and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
    and his neighbors; and (N)he is no more.
11 (O)Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
    (P)and let your widows trust in me.”

12 For thus says the Lord: (Q)“If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, (R)will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. 13 (S)For I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that (T)Bozrah shall become (U)a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”

14 (V)I have heard a message from the Lord,
    and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
(W)“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
    and rise up for battle!
15 For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised among mankind.
16 The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,[a]
    who hold the height of the hill.
Though you (X)make your nest as high as the eagle's,
    I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.

17 (Y)“Edom shall become a horror. (Z)Everyone who passes by it will be horrified (AA)and will hiss because of all its disasters. 18 (AB)As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their (AC)neighboring cities were overthrown, says the Lord, (AD)no man shall dwell there, (AE)no man shall sojourn in her. 19 (AF)Behold, (AG)like a lion coming up from (AH)the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him[b] run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. (AI)For who is like me? (AJ)Who will summon me? (AK)What shepherd can stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against (AL)Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of (AM)Teman: (AN)Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21 At the sound of their fall (AO)the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22 Behold, (AP)one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against (AQ)Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart (AR)of a woman in her birth pains.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 49:16 Or of Sela
  2. Jeremiah 49:19 Septuagint, Syriac them