THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

 

Jeremiah Chapter 49

1 ¶ Concerning the Ammonites, the LORD says this; Does Israel have no sons? does he have no heir? why then has their king taken over Gad’s inheritance, and why do his people live in Gad’s towns?

2 Therefore, know that the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise a war cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it will become a desolate heap, and her daughters will be burned with fire: then Israel will dispossess those who had dispossessed him, says the LORD.

3 Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste: cry, you daughters of Rabbah, put on your sackcloth; mourn, and run back and forth between the walls; for your king will go into captivity, together with his priests and his princes.

4 Why do you boast of your valleys, your flowing valleys, O faithless daughter? who trusted in her treasures, saying, Who will come against me?

5 Behold, I will bring terror upon you, says the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those who are around you; and you will be driven out everyone in headlong flight; and no one will rally the fugitives.

6 But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon, says the LORD.

7 ¶ Concerning Edom, the LORD of hosts says this; Is there no more wisdom in Teman? have the wise men lost their ability to provide good advice? has their wisdom disappeared?

8 Flee, turn around, lie low, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring Esau’s calamity upon him, at the time I punish him.

9 If grape-gatherers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleanings? if thieves came by night, they would take only what they could carry.

10 But I will strip Esau bare, I will reveal his hiding places, and he will not be able to hide himself: his offspring will be destroyed, along with his brethren, and his neighbors, and he will be no more.

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

12 For the LORD says; If those who have not been sentenced to drink the cup drink it; can you escape altogether unpunished? you will not go unpunished, but you will surely drink of it.

13 For I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities will be perpetual ruins.

14 I hear a message from the LORD, a messenger is sent to the heathen, saying, Gather together, and march against her, and rise up to the battle.

15 For I will make you small among the heathen, and despised among men.

16 The pride of your heart has deceived you, as to the terror you cause, O you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says the LORD.

17 Then Edom will be in ruins: every one who travels through it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its disasters.

18 It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighboring cities, says the LORD, no one will live there, nor will a human even stay there.

19 Behold, he will come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from there: and I will appoint over her the man that I choose? for who is like me? and who will challenge me? who is the shepherd who can face me?

20 Therefore hear what the LORD is planning against Edom; and what he intends to do against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away: and the flock will be amazed at what is happening to them.

21 At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble, and the noise of their crying will be heard at the Red sea.

22 Behold, he will rise up and fly as an eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and on that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

23 ¶ Concerning Damascus. Hamath and Arpad are discouraged: for they have heard bad news: they are fearful; they are in a sea of sorrow; that cannot be stilled.

24 Damascus has grown weak, and turns to flee, fear has seized her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, like a woman in travail.

25 How can that famous city be deserted, that happy city!

26 Her young men will fall in her streets, and all her men of war will be silenced in that day, says the LORD of hosts.

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

28 ¶ Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon will destroy, the LORD says this; Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the sons of the east.

29 They will take away their tents and their flocks: they will take for themselves their curtains, all their vessels, and their camels; and they will call out to them, There is terror on every side.

30 Flee, go far off, lay low, O you inhabitants of Hazor, says the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a plan against you.

31 Arise, attack a wealthy nation, that lives in peace, says the LORD, people who live alone without gates or bars.

32 Their camels will become plunder, and their great herds of cattle loot: and I will scatter to the winds those who have trimmed their hair at the temples; and I will bring calamity upon them from all directions, says the LORD.

33 And Hazor will be a dwelling place for reptiles, and a desolation for ever: there will not be anyone living there, nor will anyone stay in it.

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

35 The LORD of hosts says this; Know that I will break the bow of Elam, their main strength.

36 And I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there will not be any nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life: and I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger, says the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them:

38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy their king and princes, says the LORD.

39 But it will come to pass in the latter days, that I will end the captivity of Elam, says the LORD.