Jeremiah 49:1–50:46
49 Against the aAmmonites. Thus says the Lord:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then does 1Milcom inherit bGad,
And his people dwell in its cities?
2 cTherefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war
In dRabbah of the Ammonites;
It shall be a desolate mound,
And her 2villages shall be burned with fire.
Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance,” says the Lord.
3 “Wail, O eHeshbon, for Ai is plundered!
Cry, you daughters of Rabbah,
fGird yourselves with sackcloth!
Lament and run to and fro by the walls;
For 3Milcom shall go into captivity
With his gpriests and his princes together.
4 Why hdo you boast in the valleys,
4Your flowing valley, O ibacksliding daughter?
Who trusted in her jtreasures, ksaying,
‘Who will come against me?’
5 Behold, I will bring fear upon you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts,
“From all those who are around you;
You shall be driven out, everyone headlong,
And no one will gather those who wander off.
6 But lafterward I will bring back
The captives of the people of Ammon,” says the Lord.
7 mAgainst Edom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
n“Is wisdom no more in Teman?
oHas counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom pvanished?
8 Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of qDedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
The time that I will punish him.
9 rIf grape-gatherers came to you,
Would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
If thieves by night,
Would they not destroy until they have enough?
10 sBut I have made Esau bare;
I have uncovered his secret places,
And he shall not be able to hide himself.
His descendants are plundered,
His brethren and his neighbors,
And the is no more.
11 Leave your fatherless children,
I will preserve them alive;
And let your widows trust in Me.”
12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, uthose whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. And are you the one who will altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. 13 For vI have sworn by Myself,” says the Lord, “that wBozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a 5waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual 6wastes.”
14 xI have heard a message from the Lord,
And an ambassador has been sent to the nations:
“Gather together, come against her,
And rise up to battle!
15 “For indeed, I will make you small among nations,
Despised among men.
16 Your fierceness has deceived you,
The ypride of your heart,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
Who hold the height of the hill!
zThough you make your anest as high as the eagle,
bI will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
17 “Edom also shall be an astonishment;
cEveryone who goes by it will be astonished
And will hiss at all its plagues.
18 dAs in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
And their neighbors,” says the Lord,
“No one shall remain there,
Nor shall a son of man dwell in it.
19 “Behold, ehe shall come up like a lion from fthe 7floodplain of the Jordan
Against the dwelling place 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 gwho is like Me?
Who will arraign Me?
And hwho is that shepherd
Who will withstand Me?”
20 iTherefore hear the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Edom,
And His purposes that He has proposed against the inhabitants of Teman:
Surely the least of the flock shall 8draw them out;
Surely He shall make their dwelling places desolate with them.
21 jThe earth shakes at the noise of their fall;
At the cry its noise is heard at the Red Sea.
22 Behold, kHe shall come up and fly like the eagle,
And spread His wings over Bozrah;
The heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be
Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.
23 lAgainst Damascus.
m“Hamath and Arpad are shamed,
For they have heard bad news.
They are fainthearted;
nThere is 9trouble on the sea;
It cannot be quiet.
She turns to flee,
And fear has seized her.
oAnguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in 1labor.
25 Why is pthe city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy?
26 qTherefore her young men shall fall in her streets,
And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts.
27 “I rwill kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”
28 sAgainst Kedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall strike.
Thus says the Lord:
“Arise, go up to Kedar,
And devastate tthe men of the East!
29 Their utents and their flocks they shall take away.
They shall take for themselves their curtains,
All their vessels and their camels;
And they shall cry out to them,
v‘Fear is on every side!’
30 “Flee, get far away! Dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Hazor!” says the Lord.
“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you,
And has conceived a plan against you.
31 “Arise, go up to wthe wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the Lord,
“Which has neither gates nor bars,
xDwelling alone.
32 Their camels shall be for booty,
And the multitude of their cattle for plunder.
I will yscatter to all winds those 2in the farthest corners,
And I will bring their calamity from all its sides,” says the Lord.
33 “Hazor zshall be a dwelling for jackals, a desolation forever;
No one shall reside there,
Nor son of man dwell in it.”
34 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against aElam, in the bbeginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Behold, I will break cthe 3bow of Elam,
The foremost of their might.
36 Against Elam I will bring the four winds
From the four quarters of heaven,
And scatter them toward all those winds;
There shall be no nations where 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.
dI will bring disaster upon them,
My fierce anger,’ says the Lord;
‘And I will send the sword after them
Until I have consumed them.
38 I will eset My throne in Elam,
And will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says the Lord.
39 ‘But it shall come to pass fin the latter days:
I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says the Lord.”
Judgment on Babylon and Babylonia
50 The word that the Lord spoke aagainst Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
Proclaim, and 1set up a standard;
Proclaim—do not conceal it—
Say, ‘Babylon is btaken, cBel is shamed.
2Merodach is broken in pieces;
dHer idols are humiliated,
Her images are broken in pieces.’
3 eFor out of the north fa nation comes up against her,
Which shall make her land desolate,
And no one shall dwell therein.
They shall 3move, they shall depart,
Both man and beast.
4 “In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,
“The children of Israel shall come,
gThey and the children of Judah together;
hWith continual weeping they shall come,
iAnd seek the Lord their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion,
With their faces toward it, saying,
‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord
In ja perpetual covenant
That will not be forgotten.’
6 “My people have been klost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them lastray;
They have turned them away on mthe mountains.
They have gone from mountain to hill;
They have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who found them have ndevoured them;
And otheir adversaries said, p‘We have not offended,
Because they have sinned against the Lord, qthe habitation of justice,
The Lord, rthe hope of their fathers.’
8 “Move sfrom the midst of Babylon,
Go out of the land of the Chaldeans;
And be like the 4rams before the flocks.
9 tFor behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon
An assembly of great nations from the north country,
And they shall array themselves against her;
From there she shall be captured.
Their arrows shall be like those of 5an expert warrior;
uNone shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall become plunder;
vAll who plunder her shall be satisfied,” says the Lord.
11 “Because wyou were glad, because you rejoiced,
You destroyers of My heritage,
Because you have grown fat xlike a heifer threshing grain,
And you 6bellow like bulls,
12 Your mother shall be deeply ashamed;
She who bore you shall be ashamed.
Behold, the least of the nations shall be a ywilderness,
A dry land and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord
She shall not be inhabited,
zBut she shall be wholly desolate.
aEveryone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified
And hiss at all her plagues.
14 “Put byourselves in array against Babylon all around,
All you who bend the bow;
Shoot at her, spare no arrows,
For she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout against her all around;
She has cgiven her hand,
Her foundations have fallen,
dHer walls are thrown down;
For eit is the vengeance of the Lord.
Take vengeance on her.
As she has done, so do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
And him who handles the sickle at harvest time.
For fear of the oppressing sword
fEveryone shall turn to his own people,
And everyone shall flee to his own land.
17 “Israel is like gscattered sheep;
hThe lions have driven him away.
First ithe king of Assyria devoured him;
Now at last this jNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”
18 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
As I have punished the king of kAssyria.
19 lBut I will bring back Israel to his home,
And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan;
His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,
m“The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none;
And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found;
For I will pardon those nwhom I preserve.
21 “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it,
And against the inhabitants of oPekod.
7Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,
“And do paccording to all that I have commanded you.
22 qA sound of battle is in the land,
And of great destruction.
23 How rthe hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!
How …