Jeremiah Chapter 49
1 About Ammon
Yahveh says,
“Doesn’t Israel have any descendants?
Doesn’t he have an heir?
Why then has Malcam/Milcom taken possession of Gad,
and his people settled in its towns?
2The time’s coming
when I’ll raise the battle cry
against Rabbah of the Ammonites.
It’ll be a desolate mound;
its towns will be burned,
Then Israel will expel the ones that expelled him.
Jer 49:1-2
3“Wail, Heshbon, because Ai is destroyed!
Cry out, young women of Rabbah;
put on burlap and lament;
run back and forth inside the walls.
Malcam/Milcom will go into exile
along with his priests and officials.
4Why do you brag about your fertile valleys?
Your valleys are flowing away, unfaithful daughter
that trusts in her treasures and says,
‘Who’s going to attack me?’
5I’m going to bring terror on you
from every direction.
Every one of you will be driven out headlong
with nobody to round up the refugees.
6Yet later I’ll restore Ammon’s fortunes.”
Jer 49:3-6
7 About Edom
Yahveh of hosts says,
Has good advice disappeared from the prudent?
Has its wisdom declined?
8Turn around, run away,
live deep in the deserts, people in Dedan,
because I’ll bring disaster on Esau
when I punish him.
9If grape-gatherers come to you,
wouldn’t they leave some gleanings?
If thieves came at night,
wouldn’t they destroy only enough for themselves?
Jer 49:7-9
10But I’ll strip bare Esau’s land
and expose its hiding places
so its people can’t hide.
Its inhabitants will be killed,
relatives and friends;
its land won’t be alive anymore.
11But leave its orphans behind; I’ll keep them alive;
its widows will need to depend on me.”
Jer 49:10-11
12 Yahveh says,
“If the ones that didn’t deserve the cup have to drink it, will you be let off? You will drink it! 13 I’ve sworn by myself that Bozrah will be something to abhor, a disgrace, a ruin, a curse. Its towns will lie in permanent ruins.”
14 I’ve heard a message from Yahveh;
a messenger is going among the nations and says,
“Gather together and attack it;
rise up for battle!”
15I’ll make you small among the nations;
people will despise you.
16The terror you inspired
has deceived you into an arrogant attitude,
you that live in the clefts of the rock,
that occupy the height of a hill.
Though you make your nest high like an eagle’s,
I’ll bring you down from there.
Jer 49:12-16
17 “Edom will be something to abhor. Everybody that goes past it will be horrified and hiss at its wounds. 18 Like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, and its neighbors, nobody will live there. 19 Like a lion from the thickets by the Jordan suddenly attacking a sheepfold, I’ll chase everybody away from it. I’ll appoint over it anyone I choose. Who can take me to court? What shepherd can oppose me. 20 So listen to Yahveh’s plan for Edom, his intentions for Teman. They’ll drag off the little ones in the flock and empty the pasture. 21 The ground will shake at their downfall. The outcry will be heard all the way to the Red Sea. 22 It’s enemy will soar high and swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah. The hearts of Edom’s mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labor.”
Jer 49:17-22
23 About Damascus
“Hamath and Arpad are in panic;
they’ve heard bad news.
They’re disheartened;
their anxiety rages like a sea
that can’t be quieted.
24 Damascus is helpless;
Its people have fled.
Panic, anguish, and pain have gripped it
like a woman in labor.
25 How that famous city has been deserted,
the city of my joy!
26 Its young men will fall in its streets;
its soldiers will go silent that day,”
Yahveh of Hosts says.
27 “I’ll set fire to the walls of Damascus
that will burn down Benhadad’s fortified towers.”
Jer 49:23-27
28 About Kedar and the Kingdoms of Hazor
That Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon Defeated
“Attack Kedar;
destroy the people from the east.
29 They’ll take away their tents and flocks,
their ornate tent curtains, goods, and camels.
They’ll cry out,
‘There’s terror everywhere!’
30 Run! Flee! Live in deep caves,
people in Hazor,” Yahveh says.
Jer 49:28-30a
“Nebuchadnezzar has devised a plan against you
and plotted a scheme:
31to attack a nation that’s at ease,
that lives securely,
that doesn’t have gates or bars,
that lives apart by itself.
32Their camels will be plunder;
their livestock will be spoil.
I’ll scatter to the winds
those who clip the hair on their temples
and bring catastrophe from every direction,”
Yahveh says.
33 “Hazor will be a haunt for jackals,
a permanent wasteland.
Nobody will live there.”
Jer 49:30b-33
34 A Message from Yahveh to Jeremiah About Elam
at the Beginning of the Reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah
35 “Yahveh of Hosts says,
‘I’m going to break the bow of Elam,
the main weapon of their power.
36I’m going to bring on Elam the four winds
from the four ends of the sky.
I’ll scatter them to all those winds;
there won’t be any nation
the refugees from Elam can flee to.
37I’ll scatter Elam ahead the enemies
that want to kill them.
I’ll bring catastrophe on them,
my fierce anger.
I’ll send out the sword after them
till I’ve consumed them all.
38Then I’ll set my throne in Elam
and destroy its king and officials.
39Yet later I’ll restore Elam’s fortunes.’”
Jer 49:34-39