Jeremiah, 49

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

1. Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why [then] doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?

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

2. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.

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 and princes.

3. Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, [and] his priests and his princes together.

4. How you used to glory in your Valley, rebellious daughter, confident in your resources, 'Who will dare to attack me?'

4. Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, [saying], Who shall come unto me?

5. Look, I shall bring terror on you, Lord Yahweh Sabaoth declares, from all directions; you shall be driven away, everyone for himself, with no one to rally the fugitives.

5. Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.

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

6. And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

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

7. Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; [Is] wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

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

8. Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time [that] I will visit him.

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

9. If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave [some] gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.

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

10. But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he [is] not.

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

11. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve [them] alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

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

12. For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment [was] not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and [art] thou he [that] shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink [of it].

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

13. For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.

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

14. I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, [saying], Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

15. For look, I shall reduce you to the smallest of nations, to the most despised of people.

15. For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, [and] despised among men.

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 shall bring you down from there, Yahweh declares.

16. Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, [and] the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

17. Edom will become an object of horror; everyone going near will be appalled, and whistle at the sight of all her wounds.

17. Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.

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

18. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour [cities] thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

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

19. Behold, he shall 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 her: and who [is] a chosen [man, that] I may appoint over her? for who [is] like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who [is] that shepherd that will stand before me?

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

20. Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.

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

21. The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.

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

22. Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

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

23. Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; [there is] sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.

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

24. Damascus is waxed feeble, [and] turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on [her]: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

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

25. How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!

26. And so in her squares her young men will fall, and all her fighting men will perish, that day, Yahweh Sabaoth declares.

26. Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.

27. I shall light a fire inside the walls of Damascus, to devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.

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

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!

28. Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.

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

29. Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear [is] on every side.

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

30. Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.

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

31. Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, [which] dwell alone.

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

32. And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them [that are] in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD.

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

33. And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, [and] a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor [any] son of man dwell in it.

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

34. The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

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

35. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

36. I shall bring four winds on Elam from the four corners of the sky, and I shall scatter them to all these winds: there will not be a single nation to which people expelled from Elam do not go.

36. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

37. I shall make the Elamites tremble before their enemies, before those determined to kill them. I shall bring disaster on them, my burning anger, Yahweh declares. I shall pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them all.

37. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, [even] my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:

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

38. And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.

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

39. But it shall come to pass in the latter days, [that] I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.