Beginning
Prophecy against the Ammonites
49 Concerning the Ammonites, the Lord proclaims:
Doesn’t Israel have children?
Aren’t there heirs to his land?
Why then has Milcom taken over Gad?
Why have his people settled in its towns?
2 Therefore, the time is coming,
declares the Lord,
when I will sound the battle alarm against Rabbah,
the capital city of the Ammonites.
The city will be demolished,
and its neighboring villages
will be burned to the ground.
Then Israel will repossess
the land seized by its captors,
says the Lord.
3 Weep, you people of Heshbon;
Ai has been destroyed.
Wail, you daughters of Rabbah;
put on funeral clothing,
cry your eyes out,
run for shelter.[a]
Milcom will surely go into exile,
together with his priests and ministers.
4 Why do you brag about your strength?
Your strength is exhausted,[b]
you rebellious daughter.
You trust in your treasures,
never imagining who would attack you.
5 I’m the one who will terrify you from every side,
declares the Lord of heavenly forces.
Every one of you will be scattered about;
no one will gather those who fled.
6 Afterward, though, I will bring back
the Ammonites from captivity,
declares the Lord.
Prophecy against Edom
7 Concerning Edom, the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Is wisdom no longer in Teman?
Has good sense vanished from the perceptive?
Are they no longer wise?
8 Turn, flee, and run for cover,
you inhabitants of Dedan.
I’m bringing disaster on Esau:
its day of reckoning.
9 If workers would come to you to pick grapes,
they would at least leave a few on the vine.
If thieves would come in the night,
they would take only what they needed.
10 But me? I will strip Esau bare.
I will expose his hiding places,
and he will find no place to take cover.
His offspring, family, and acquaintances will perish,
and there will be no one left to say,[c]
11 “Leave me your orphans,
and I’ll look after them;
trust your widows into my care.”
12 The Lord proclaims: If the innocent must drink the cup, why do you expect to escape punishment? You won’t! You will drink it! 13 I myself swear, declares the Lord, that Bozrah will become an object of horror and scorn, a wasteland and a curse. And all of its towns will lie in ruins forever.
14 I have heard a report from the Lord
that a messenger is sent among the nations:
Join forces and come against her;
prepare for war!
15 I’m about to cut you down to size before the nations;
you will be scorned by everyone.
16 The terror you have inflicted on others has deceived you,
as has your own pride.
Though you live in a fortress
and occupy the high ground;
though you nest on high like the eagles,
I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.
17 Then Edom will become a wasteland.
All who pass by will be shocked by its injuries.
18 It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
and their surrounding towns,
says the Lord.
No one will live there;
no human will dwell in it.
19 Like a lion coming up
from the jungle of the Jordan
to a well-watered meadow,[d]
so I will suddenly chase down Edom
and single out its choicest of rams.[e]
Who is like me?
Who can direct me?
What shepherd can withstand me?
20 Therefore, listen to the counsel
that the Lord has for Edom
and the plans he’s devised
against the people of Teman:
The little ones of the flock
will be dragged off,
as their pasture watches
in utter disbelief.[f]
21 The earth quakes
as the Edomites go down;
their screams echo
as far as the Reed Sea.[g]
22 Look! One who mounts up and soars like an eagle,
who swoops down and spreads his wings over Bozrah.
On that day, the heart of every soldier from Edom
will be like that of a woman in the throes of labor.
Prophecy against Damascus
23 Concerning Damascus:
Hamath and Arpad lose heart
when they hear the bad news.
They are trembling with fear,
like the raging sea,
which can’t become quiet.
24 Damascus staggers about;
she tries to flee,
but panic overwhelms her.
She’s gripped by anguish and pain,
like a woman in labor.
25 Forsaken[h] is the renowned city,
city of my delight.
26 Yes, her young men will fall in the streets,
and her soldiers will be silent on that day,
declares the Lord of heavenly forces.
27 I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;
it will burn up the fortresses of Ben-hadad.
Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor
28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar defeated, the Lord proclaims:
Get ready to attack Kedar;
destroy the people from the east!
29 Seize[i] their tents and their flocks,
their belongings and all their goods.
Take off with their camels
and shout as you go:
“Panic Lurks Everywhere!”
30 Run away; take cover,
you people of Hazor,
declares the Lord.
Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar
has taken counsel and devised a plan against you.
31 Get ready to attack a nation
that feels safe and secure,
declares the Lord,
one without barred gates
that lives by itself.
32 Their camels will become plunder;
their many cattle will be pillaged.
I will scatter to the winds those who are clean-shaven,[j]
and I will bring disaster on them from every side,
declares the Lord.
33 Hazor will become a den for wild dogs,
a wilderness forever.
No one will live there;
no human will dwell in it.
Prophecy against Elam
34 This is what the Lord told the prophet Jeremiah concerning Elam at the beginning of the rule of Judah’s King Zedekiah. 35 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
I’m going to break the bow of Elam,
the backbone of its military might.
36 I will bring against Elam four winds
from the four corners of heaven,
and I will scatter them to the winds.
Those banished from Elam will migrate to every nation.
37 I will terrify Elam before their enemies,
before those who seek to kill them.
I will bring disaster upon them,
my fierce anger,
declares the Lord.
I will send the sword to attack them
until I have destroyed them all.
38 I will establish my rule in Elam
and dispose of its king and officials,
declares the Lord.
39 But in the days to come
I will bring back the captives of Elam,
declares the Lord.
Prophecy against Babylon
50 This is what the Lord said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah:
2 Tell the nations;
proclaim it far and wide!
Set up a flag;
proclaim it far and wide!
Hold nothing back;
just shout it:
“Babylon is captured;
Bel is shamed;
Marduk is panic-stricken.
Her images are shamed;
her idols are panic-stricken.”
3 A nation from the north
has risen up against her.
It will decimate her land,
and no one will live in it.
Every living thing will flee.
4 In those days and at that time,
declares the Lord,
the people of Israel and Judah
will come out of Babylon[k] together;
with weeping they will leave
as they seek the Lord their God.
5 They will search for Zion,
turning their faces toward it.
They will come[l] and
unite with the Lord,
in an everlasting covenant
that will never be forgotten.
6 My people were lost sheep;
their shepherds led them astray;
they deserted them on the mountains,
where they wandered off among the hills,
forgetting their resting place.
7 All who found them devoured them;
and their attackers said,
“It’s not our fault,
because they have sinned against the Lord,
the true pasture,[m]
the hope of their ancestors—the Lord.”
8 Now wander far from Babylon.
Get out of that country.
Like rams of the flock,
lead the way home.
9 I’m stirring up against Babylon
a coalition of mighty nations.
It will mobilize in the north,
and from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like those of an expert archer
who does not return empty-handed.
10 Babylon will be defeated;
its attackers will carry off all that they want,
declares the Lord.
11 Sure, you gloat and rejoice,
you plunderers of my possession.
Sure, you dance around like a calf
and neigh like a stallion.
12 But Mother Babylon[n] will be humiliated;
the one who bore you will be disgraced.
She will become the least of the nations:
a wilderness, a desert, and parched land.
13 Because of the Lord’s anger,
no one will live there;
she will be reduced to total ruin.
All who pass by Babylon will be shocked;
they will gasp at all her injuries.
14 Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you archers;
now shoot at her;
save none of your arrows,
because she’s sinned against the Lord.
15 Raise a victory shout against her on every side!
She’s surrendered;
her towers have collapsed;
her walls are destroyed.
This is the Lord’s retribution;
now pay her back:
do to her what she’s done to others!
16 Cut Babylon off from those who plant
and those who harvest the crops,
because of its ruthless sword.[o]
Now return, all of you, to your people;
flee to your homeland!
17 Israelites are scattered sheep,
driven away by lions.
First the king of Assyria devoured them,
and now Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar has ravaged them.[p]
18 Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:
I’m going to punish the king of Babylon and his land,
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will restore Israel to their pasture;
they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
they will eat their fill
in the highlands of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and at that time,
declares the Lord,
if one searches for the sin of Israel,
they will find nothing;
if one seeks out the wrongdoing of Judah,
they will look in vain.
I will forgive those I have spared.
21 Attack the land of Merathaim;[q]
crush those living in Pekod.
Ruin and destroy them,
declares the Lord;
do all I have commanded you.
22 There’s the sound of war in the land
and enormous devastation.
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
has been broken and shattered into pieces!
How Babylon has become a wasteland
among the nations!
24 You set a trap for others, Babylon,[r]
but you yourself were caught in it unaware;
you have been found and captured
because you have defied the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal
and brought out his brutal weapons.
The Lord God of heavenly forces
has a job to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26 Come against her from every side;
throw open her granaries;
pile her up like stalks of grain;
totally destroy her;
leave nothing intact.
27 Destroy all her bulls;
prepare them for slaughter.
How terrible for them!
Their time has come,
the day of reckoning.
28 A voice of fugitives and refugees,
from the land of Babylon,
declaring in Zion
the retribution of the Lord our God
because of what has been done to his temple.
29 Send the archers against Babylon,
all who draw the bow!
Surround her
and let no one escape.
Pay her back for her deeds;
do to her what she’s done to others.
She has acted arrogantly toward the Lord,
the holy one of Israel!
30 Therefore, her soldiers will fall in the streets;
all her warriors will be silenced on that day,
declares the Lord.
31 I’m against you, you arrogant one!
declares the Lord God of heavenly forces.
Your day has come,
your time of reckoning.
32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and no one will help her up.
I’ll set your cities on fire,
and it will consume all that’s around her.
33 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
The people of Israel were oppressed,
together with the people of Judah.
Their captors held them
and refused to let them go.
34 Yet their redeemer is strong;
the Lord of heavenly forces is his name.
He will surely defend their cause
and give them rest in the land.
But he will unsettle the people of Babylon.
35 A sword against Babylon and its people,
declares the Lord,
along with its officials and sages.
36 A sword against its diviners
so that they become fools.
A sword against its warriors
so that they are terrified.
37 A sword against its horses and chariots,
and the mercenaries[s] in its midst
so that they lose courage.[t]
A sword against its treasures
so that they are looted.
38 A sword[u] against the water supplies
so that they dry up.
It is truly the land of idols,
idols about which they have gone utterly mad!
39 Therefore, Babylon will become a ghost town,
a place for desert animals,
hyenas, and ravenous birds.[v]
No one will live there again;
no one will make it their home.
40 Just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,
declares the Lord,
so no one will live in Babylon
or settle there again.
41 Look! An army is on the move
from the northern regions.
A powerful nation and many kings are coming
from the ends of the earth.
42 Equipped with bow and spear,
they are cruel and show no mercy.
Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea,
arrayed in battle formation against you,
Daughter Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports of them
and is panic-stricken;
distress overwhelms him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44 Like a lion coming up from
the jungle of the Jordan
to a well-watered meadow,[w]
so I will suddenly chase down Babylon
and single out its choicest of rams.
Who is like me?
Who can direct me?
What shepherd can withstand me?
45 Therefore, listen to the counsel
that the Lord has for Babylon
and the plans he’s devised
against the land of Babylon:
The little ones of the flock
will be dragged off,
as their pasture watches
in utter disbelief.[x]
46 The earth quakes
at the sound of Babylon’s capture;
its screams echo throughout the world.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible