Jeremiah 49

¹ To the Ammonites. Yahweh says this: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why should Milcom haveinherited Gad and his people have settled in its towns?

² And so the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall make the war cry ring out for Rabbah-of-the-Ammonites. She wil become a desolate mound and her daughter towns wil be burnt down. Then Israel willinherit from his heirs, Yahweh says.

³ Wail, Heshbon, for Ar has been laid waste! Shriek, daughters of Rabbah! Wrap yourself in sackcloth,raise the dirge, run to and fro among the sheep-pens! For Milcom is going into exile, with all his priests andprinces.

⁴ How you used to glory in your Val ey, rebel ious daughter, confident in your resources, 'Who wil dare toattack me?'

⁵ Look, I shal bring terror on you, Lord Yahweh Sabaoth declares, from al directions; you shal be drivenaway, everyone for himself, with no one to ral y the fugitives.

⁶ (But later I shal bring back the captive Ammonites, Yahweh declares.)

⁷ To Edom. Yahweh says this: Is there no wisdom left in Teman? Have the shrewd run out ofcommonsense, has their wisdom vanished?

⁸ Away! Take to your heels! Go into hiding, inhabitants of Dedan, for I shal bring ruin on Esau when thetime comes for me to punish him.

⁹ If grape-pickers were to come to you, would they not leave a few gleanings? If robbers came during thenight, would they not steal only as much as they wanted?

¹⁰ But I for my part have stripped Esau, have laid his hiding places bare: he can hide no longer. His raceis destroyed, so are his brothers and neighbours; he is no more!

¹¹ Leave your orphans, I shall support them, and let your widows rely on me!

¹² For Yahweh says this, 'Look, those who would not have had to drink the cup wil have to drink it all thesame; so why should you go unpunished? You wil not go unpunished, but wil certainly have to drink.

¹³ For by my own self I have sworn, Yahweh declares, that Bozrah will become an object of horror, alaughing-stock, a desert, a curse, and al its towns ruins for ever.'

¹⁴ I have received a message from Yahweh, a herald has been sent throughout the nations, 'Muster!March against this people! Prepare for battle!'

¹⁵ For look, I shal reduce you to the smal est of nations, to the most despised of people.

¹⁶ Your reputation for ferocity, your proud heart has misled you. You whose home is in the crannies of the Rock, who cling to the top of the peak! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's, I shal bring youdown from there, Yahweh declares.

¹⁷ Edom wil become an object of horror; everyone going near wil be appal ed, and whistle at the sight ofal her wounds.

¹⁸ As at the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring towns, no one wil live there anymore, Yahweh says, no human being settle there again.

¹⁹ Look, like a lion he climbs from the thickets of the Jordan to the perennial pasture! In a flash, I shalmake them run away, and there appoint someone I shal choose. For who is there like me? Who can hale meinto court? Name me the shepherd who can stand up to me.

²⁰ So now hear the plan that Yahweh has laid against Edom, the schemes he has in mind against theinhabitants of Teman: they will certainly be dragged away like the smal est of the flock! Their pastures wilcertainly be sacked before their eyes!

²¹ The earth quakes at the sound of their downfal , the sound of it echoes to the Sea of Reeds.

²² Look, like an eagle, he wil soar and hover, spreading his wings over Bozrah. And the heart of Edom'swarriors, that day, wil be like that of a woman in labour pains.

²³ To Damascus. Hamath and Arpad are shamed, for they have heard bad news. They are convulsedwith anxiety like the sea that cannot be calmed.

²⁴ Damascus is aghast, she prepares for flight, she is seized with trembling (anguish and sorrow havelaid hold on her as on a woman in labour).

²⁵ What now! That famous town deserted, that city of gaiety?

²⁶ And so in her squares her young men wil fall, and all her fighting men wil perish, that day, YahwehSabaoth declares.

²⁷ I shal light a fire inside the wal s of Damascus, to devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.

²⁸ To Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.Yahweh says this: Up! March on Kedar, destroy the sons of the east!

²⁹ Let their tents and their flocks be captured, their tent-cloths and al their gear; let their camels beseized and the shout go up, 'Terror on every side!'

³⁰ Away! Get into hiding as fast as you can, inhabitants of Hazor, Yahweh declares, for Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon has made a plan against you, he has a scheme in mind against you,

³¹ Up! March on a nation at its ease, living secure, Yahweh declares, that has no gates, no bars, thatlives in a remote place!

³² Their camels wil be the plunder, their countless sheep the spoil. I shal scatter them to the winds,those Crop-Heads, and bring ruin on them from every side, Yahweh declares.

³³ Hazor wil become the lair of jackals, desolate for ever. No one wil live there any more, no humanbeing settle there again.

³⁴ The word of Yahweh that came to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam, at the beginning of the reign ofZedekiah king of Judah.

³⁵ 'Yahweh Sabaoth says this: Look, I shal break Elam's bow, the source of his might.

³⁶ I shal bring four winds on Elam from the four corners of the sky, and I shall scatter them to al thesewinds: there wil not be a single nation to which people expel ed from Elam do not go.

³⁷ I shal make the Elamites tremble before their enemies, before those determined to kil them. I shalbring disaster on them, my burning anger, Yahweh declares. I shall pursue them with the sword until I havedestroyed them al .

³⁸ I shal set up my throne in Elam, uprooting its king and princes, Yahweh declares.

³⁹ In the final days, I shal bring Elam's captives back, Yahweh declares.'