Beginning
Chapter 49
Against the Ammonites. 1 Concerning the Ammonites. Thus says the Lord:
Has Israel no sons?
none to inherit?
Why has Milcom[a] disinherited Gad,
why are his people living in its cities?
2 Therefore the days are coming—oracle of the Lord—
when I will sound the battle alarm
against Rabbah of the Ammonites;
It shall become a mound of ruins,
and its villages destroyed by fire.
Israel shall then inherit those who disinherited it—
oracle of the Lord.(A)
3 Wail, Heshbon, “The ruin is destroyed!”
shriek, villages of Rabbah!
Put on sackcloth and lament!
Run back and forth in the sheepfolds.
For Milcom is going into exile,
taking priest and prince with him.(B)
4 Why boast in your strength,
your ebbing strength, rebellious daughter?
Why trust in your treasures, saying,
“Who would dare attack me?”
5 See, I am bringing terror upon you—
oracle of the Lord God of hosts—
from all around you;
You shall be scattered, each in headlong flight,
with no one to gather the fugitives.(C)
6 But afterward I will restore the fortunes
of the Ammonites—oracle of the Lord.
Against Edom.[b] 7 Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Is there no more wisdom in Teman,[c]
has counsel perished from the prudent,
is their wisdom gone?
8 Flee, retreat, hide deep for lodging,
inhabitants of Dedan:
For I bring disaster upon Esau[d]
when I come to punish them.(D)
9 If vintagers came upon you,
they would leave no gleanings;
If thieves by night,
they would destroy as they pleased.(E)
10 So I myself will strip Esau;
I will uncover his lairs so he cannot hide.
Offspring and family are destroyed,
neighbors, too; he is no more.(F)
11 Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;
your widows, let them trust in me.(G)
12 For thus says the Lord: Look, even those not sentenced to drink the cup must drink it! Shall you then go unpunished? You shall not! You shall drink every bit of it!(H) 13 By myself I have sworn—oracle of the Lord—Bozrah[e] shall become an object of horror, a disgrace, a desolation, and a curse. Bozrah and all its cities shall become ruins forever.(I)
14 I have heard a report from the Lord,
a herald has been sent among the nations:
“Gather together, move against it,
get ready for battle!”
15 I will make you the least among the nations,
despised by all people!(J)
16 The terror you spread,
the pride of your heart, beguiled you.
You denizens of rocks and crevices,
occupying towering peaks:
Though you build your nest high as the eagle,
from there I will bring you down—oracle of the Lord.(K)
17 Edom shall become an object of horror. Passersby recoil in terror, hissing at all its wounds. 18 As when Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighbors were overthrown—oracle of the Lord—no one shall live in it, nor anyone settle there.(L)
19 As when a lion comes up from a thicket of the Jordan
to a permanent pasture,
So in an instant, I will chase them off;
I will establish there whomever I choose.
For who is like me? Who holds me accountable?
What shepherd can stand against me?(M)
20 Therefore, listen to the strategy
the Lord devised for Edom;
The plans he has drawn up
against the inhabitants of Teman:
They shall be dragged away, even the smallest of the flock;
their pasture shall be aghast because of them.
21 With the din of their collapse the earth quakes,
to the Red Sea the outcry is heard!
22 Look! like an eagle he soars aloft,
and spreads his wings over Bozrah;
On that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors become
like the heart of a woman in labor.(N)
Against Damascus. 23 Concerning Damascus.
Hamath and Arpad[f] are shamed,
for they have heard bad news;
Anxious, they surge like the sea
which cannot calm down.(O)
24 Damascus loses heart, turns to flee;
panic has seized it.
Distress and pangs take hold,
like the pain of a woman in labor.
25 How can the glorious city be abandoned,
the town of joy!
26 But now its young men shall fall in its squares,
all the warriors destroyed on that day—
oracle of the Lord of hosts.
27 I will set fire to the wall of Damascus;
it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.[g]
Against Arabia. 28 About Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, defeated.
Thus says the Lord:
Rise up, attack Kedar,
destroy the people from the east.(P)
29 Their tents and flocks shall be taken away,
their tent curtains and all their goods;
Their camels they carry off,
they shout over them, “Terror on every side!”(Q)
30 Flee! wander about, hide deep for lodging,
inhabitants of Hazor—oracle of the Lord;
For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has devised a strategy against you,
drawn up a plan against you,
31 Get up! set out against a tranquil nation,
living in security—oracle of the Lord—
Without gates or bars,
dwelling alone.
32 Their camels shall become spoils,
their hordes of cattle, plunder;
I will scatter to the winds those who shave their temples;
from every side I will bring their ruin—
oracle of the Lord.(R)
33 Hazor shall become a haunt for jackals,
a wasteland forever,
Where no one lives,
no mortal stays.
Against Elam. 34 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam[h] at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah:
35 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Look! I will break the bow of Elam,
the mainstay of their might.
36 I will bring upon Elam the four winds
from the four ends of the heavens:
I will scatter them to all these winds, until there is no nation
to which the outcasts of Elam have not gone.
37 I will terrify Elam before their foes,
those seeking their life;
I will bring evil upon them,
my burning wrath—oracle of the Lord.
I will send sword after them
until I have finished them off;
38 I will set up my throne in Elam
and destroy from there king and princes—
oracle of the Lord.
39 But at the end of days I will restore
the fortunes of Elam—oracle of the Lord.
Chapter 50
The First Oracle Against Babylon. 1 The word the Lord spoke against Babylon,[i] against the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:(S)
2 Proclaim this among the nations, announce it!
Announce it, do not hide it, but say:
Babylon is captured, Bel[j] put to shame, Marduk terrified;
its images are put to shame, its idols shattered.
3 A nation from the north advances against it,
making the land desolate
So that no one can live there;
human beings and animals have fled.(T)
4 In those days and at that time—oracle of the Lord—
Israelite and Judahite shall come together,
Weeping as they come, to seek the Lord, their God;(U)
5 They shall ask for Zion,
seeking out the way.
“Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten.”(V)
6 Lost sheep were my people,
their shepherds misled them,
leading them astray on the mountains;
From mountain to hill they wandered,
forgetting their fold.(W)
7 Whoever happened upon them devoured them;
their enemies said, “We are not guilty,
Because they sinned against the Lord,
the abode of justice, the hope of their ancestors.”(X)
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon,
leave the land of the Chaldeans,
be like rams at the head of the flock.(Y)
9 See, I am stirring up against Babylon
a band of great nations from the land of the north;
They are arrayed against her,
from there she shall be taken.
Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior
who never returns empty-handed.(Z)
10 Chaldea shall become plunder;
all its plunderers shall be enriched—
oracle of the Lord.
11 Yes, rejoice and exult,
you that plunder my heritage;
Frisk like calves on the grass,
neigh like stallions!
12 Your mother will indeed be put to shame,
she that bore you shall be abashed;
See, the last of the nations,
a wilderness, a dry wasteland.(AA)
13 Because of the Lord’s wrath it shall be uninhabited,
become an utter wasteland;
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
and hiss at all its wounds.(AB)
14 Take your posts encircling Babylon,
you who bend the bow;
Shoot at it, do not spare your arrows,(AC)
15 raise the war cry against it on every side.
It surrenders, its bastions fall,
its walls are torn down:[k]
This is retribution from the Lord! Take retribution on her,
as she has done, do to her;
for she sinned against the Lord.(AD)
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon
and those who wield sickles at harvest time!
Before the destroying sword,
all of them turn back to their own people,
all flee to their own land.(AE)
17 Israel was a stray sheep
that lions pursued;
The king of Assyria once devoured him;
now Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnaws his bones.(AF)
18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
as I once punished the king of Assyria;(AG)
19 But I will bring Israel back to its pasture,
to feed on Carmel and Bashan,
And on Mount Ephraim and Gilead,
until they have their fill.(AH)
20 In those days, at that time—oracle of the Lord:
The guilt of Israel may be sought, but it no longer exists,
the sin of Judah, but it can no longer be found;
for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.(AI)
21 Attack the land of Merathaim,
and those who live in Pekod;[l]
Slaughter and put them under the ban—oracle of the Lord—
do all I have commanded you.
22 Battle alarm in the land,
great destruction!
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
has been cut off and broken!
What an object of horror
Babylon has become among the nations!(AJ)
24 You ensnared yourself and were caught,
Babylon, before you knew it!
You were discovered and seized,
because you challenged the Lord.(AK)
25 The Lord opens his armory,
brings out the weapons of his wrath;
The Lord God of hosts has work to do
in the land of the Chaldeans.(AL)
26 Come upon them from every side,
open their granaries,
Pile them up in heaps and put them under the ban;
do not leave a remnant.
27 Slay all the oxen,
take them down to slaughter;
Woe to them! their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
28 Listen! the fugitives, the refugees
from the land of Babylon:
They announce in Zion
the retribution of the Lord, our God.(AM)
29 Call archers out against Babylon,
all who bend the bow;
Encamp around them;
let no one escape.
Repay them for their deeds;
what they have done, do to them,
For they insulted the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.(AN)
30 Therefore their young men shall fall in the squares,
all their warriors shall be stilled on that day—
oracle of the Lord.(AO)
31 I am against you, O Insolence—
oracle of the Lord God of hosts;
For your day has come,
the time for me to punish you.
32 Insolence stumbles and falls;
there is no one to raise him up.
I will kindle a fire in his cities
to devour everything around him.
33 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Oppressed are the people of Israel,
together with the people of Judah;
All their captors hold them fast
and refuse to let them go.
34 Strong is their Redeemer,
whose name is Lord of hosts,
The sure defender of their cause,
who gives rest to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon.(AP)
35 A sword upon the Chaldeans—oracle of the Lord—
upon the inhabitants of Babylon, her princes and sages!
36 A sword upon the soothsayers,
and they become fools!
A sword upon the warriors,
and they tremble;
37 A sword upon their motley throng,
and they become women!
A sword upon their treasures,
and they are plundered;(AQ)
38 A drought upon the waters,
and they dry up!
For it is a land of idols,
soon made frantic by phantoms.(AR)
39 Hence, wildcats shall dwell there with hyenas,
and ostriches occupy it;
Never again shall it be inhabited or settled,
from age to age.(AS)
40 As happened when God overturned Sodom
and Gomorrah and their neighbors—oracle of the Lord—
No one shall dwell there,
no mortal shall settle there.(AT)
41 See, a people comes from the north,
a great nation, and mighty kings
rising from the ends of the earth.(AU)
42 Bow and javelin they wield,
cruel and pitiless are they;
They sound like the roaring sea,
as they ride forth on horses,
Each in place for battle
against you, daughter Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon hears news of them,
and his hands hang helpless;
Anguish takes hold of him,
like the pangs of a woman giving birth.(AV)
44 As happens when a lion comes up from a thicket of the Jordan
to permanent pasture,
So I, in an instant, will chase them off,
and establish there whomever I choose!
For who is like me? Who can call me to account?
What shepherd can stand against me?(AW)
45 Therefore, hear the strategy of the Lord,
which he has devised against Babylon;
Hear the plans drawn up
against the land of the Chaldeans:
They shall be dragged away, even the smallest sheep;
their own pasture aghast because of them.(AX)
46 At the cry “Babylon is captured!” the earth quakes;
the outcry is heard among the nations.(AY)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.