Judgement on Ammon

1Concerning the Ammonites.

Thus says the LORD:

“Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

Why then has Milcom49:1 Or their king; also verse 3 dispossessed Gad,

and his people settled in its cities?

2Therefore, behold, the days are coming,

declares the LORD,

when I will cause the battle cry to be heard

against Rabbah of the Ammonites;

it shall become a desolate mound,

and its villages shall be burned with fire;

then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,

says the LORD.

3“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!

Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!

Put on sackcloth,

lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!

For Milcom shall go into exile,

with his priests and his officials.

4Why do you boast of your valleys,49:4 Hebrew boast of your valleys, your valley flows

O faithless daughter,

who trusted in her treasures, saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

5Behold, I will bring terror upon you,

declares the Lord GOD of hosts,

from all who are round you,

and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,

with none to gather the fugitives.

6“But afterwards I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the LORD.”

Judgement on Edom

7Concerning Edom.

Thus says the LORD of hosts:

“Is wisdom no more in Teman?

Has counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom vanished?

8Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Dedan!

For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,

the time when I punish him.

9If grape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave gleanings?

If thieves came by night,

would they not destroy only enough for themselves?

10But I have stripped Esau bare;

I have uncovered his hiding places,

and he is not able to conceal himself.

His children are destroyed, and his brothers,

and his neighbours; and he is no more.

11Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;

and let your widows trust in me.”

12For thus says the LORD: “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. 13For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”

14I have heard a message from the LORD,

and an envoy has been sent among the nations:

“Gather yourselves together and come against her,

and rise up for battle!

15For behold, I will make you small among the nations,

despised among mankind.

16The horror you inspire has deceived you,

and the pride of your heart,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,49:16 Or of Sela

who hold the height of the hill.

Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's,

I will bring you down from there,

declares the LORD.

17“Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. 18As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring cities were overthrown, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. 19Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him49:19 Septuagint, Syriac them run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? 20Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains.”

Judgement on Damascus

23Concerning Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad are confounded,

for they have heard bad news;

they melt in fear,

they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.

24Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee,

and panic seized her;

anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,

as of a woman in labour.

25How is the famous city not forsaken,

the city of my joy?

26Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,

and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,

declares the LORD of hosts.

27And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,

and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.”

Judgement on Kedar and Hazor

28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.

Thus says the LORD:

“Rise up, advance against Kedar!

Destroy the people of the east!

29Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,

their curtains and all their goods;

their camels shall be led away from them,

and men shall cry to them: ‘Terror on every side!’

30Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Hazor!

declares the LORD.

For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

has made a plan against you

and formed a purpose against you.

31“Rise up, advance against a nation at ease,

that dwells securely,

declares the LORD,

that has no gates or bars,

that dwells alone.

32Their camels shall become plunder,

their herds of livestock a spoil.

I will scatter to every wind

those who cut the corners of their hair,

and I will bring their calamity

from every side of them,

declares the LORD.

33Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals,

an everlasting waste;

no man shall dwell there;

no man shall sojourn in her.”

Judgement on Elam

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

35Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. 36And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. 37I will terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the LORD. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, 38and I will set my throne in Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the LORD.

39“But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the LORD.”