Jeremiah 49

1Concerning the sons of Ammon, thus says Yahweh: Does Israel have no sons? Does he have no heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad, and his people settled in its cities?

2Therefore, behold, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will cause the battle cry to be heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and it will become a desolate mound, and its daughter towns will be set on fire. Then Israel will dispossess those who dispossessed him, says Yahweh.

3Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated! Cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth, mourn, and wander about among the walls, for their king will go into exile, together with his priests and his officials.

4Why do you boast in the valleys, your valley flowing away, O faithless daughter, who trusts in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’

5Behold, I am bringing terror upon you from all around you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts, and each man will be driven out before him, with no one to gather the fugitive.

6But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the people of Ammon, declares Yahweh.

7Concerning Edom: Thus says Yahweh of hosts: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom become corrupted?

8Flee, turn back, dwell deep, inhabitants of Dedan, for I have brought Esau’s calamity upon him, the time when I punish him.

9If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, they would destroy only enough for themselves.

10For I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places, and he will not be able to hide himself. His offspring, his brothers, and his neighbors are destroyed, and he is no more.

11Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive. And let your widows trust in me.

12For thus says Yahweh: Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will surely drink, and are you the one who will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you will surely drink.

13For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a horror, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become everlasting ruins.

14I have heard a report from Yahweh, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Gather yourselves, and come against her, and rise up for battle.”

15For look, I have made you small among the nations, despised among men.

16The terror you inspire has deceived you, the arrogance of your heart— you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who occupy the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, from there I will bring you down, declares Yahweh.

17Edom will become a desolation; everyone who passes by her will be appalled and will whistle at all her wounds.

18As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns were overthrown, says Yahweh, no man will dwell there, and no son of man will sojourn in her.

19Look, like a lion he will come up from the thicket of the Jordan against a secure pasture; for in an instant I will make him run from it, and I will appoint over it whomever is chosen. For who is like me, and who will summon me? And who is the shepherd who can stand before me?

20Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh that he has planned against Edom, and his thoughts that he has devised against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will drag them away; surely he will make their pasture desolate over them.

21At the sound of their fall the earth quakes; their cry is heard at the Red Sea.

22Behold, like an eagle he will rise up and swoop down and spread his wings over Bozrah, and the heart of Edom’s warriors on that day will become like the heart of a woman in labor.

23Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard bad news; they melt away. There is anxiety like the sea; it cannot be quiet.

24Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee, and trembling has seized her. Distress and labor pains have taken hold of her, like a woman giving birth.

25How is the city of praise not abandoned, the city of my joy?

26Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be silenced on that day, declares Yahweh of Armies.

27And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.

28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down: Thus says Yahweh: Rise up, go up against Kedar, and plunder the people of the east.

29They will take their tents and their flocks; they will carry off their tent curtains and all their goods and their camels, and they will cry out against them, “Terror on every side!”

30Flee! Wander far away! Dwell deep, inhabitants of Hazor, declares Yahweh, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you and devised a plan against you.

31Rise up, go up against a nation at ease, dwelling securely, declares Yahweh, that has no doors or bars; they dwell alone.

32Their camels will become plunder, and their many livestock spoil. I will scatter to every wind those who cut the corners of their hair, and from all sides of them I will bring their disaster, declares Yahweh.

33Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, a desolation forever; no man will dwell there, and no son of man will sojourn in it.

34The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

35Thus says Yahweh of hosts: Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

36I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four ends of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37I will shatter Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster on them, my burning anger, declares Yahweh, and I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them.

38And I will set my throne in Elam, and I will destroy from there king and officials, declares Yahweh.

39But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares Yahweh.