Jeremiah 47–51

Prophecies against the Philistines

47This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines ^ubefore Pharaoh defeated Gaza. ^v2This is what the Lord says:

Look, waters are rising from the north ^w

and becoming an overflowing wadi.

They will overflow the land and everything in it, ^x

the cities and their inhabitants.

The people will cry out,

and every inhabitant of the land will wail.

³At the sound of the stomping hooves of his stallions, ^y

the rumbling of his chariots,

and the clatter of their wheels, ^z

fathers will not turn back for their sons,

because they will be utterly helpless ^a

⁴on account of the day that is coming

to destroy all the Philistines,

to cut off from Tyre and Sidon

every remaining ally. ^b

Indeed, the Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,

the remnant of the islands of Caphtor. ^cd

⁵Baldness is coming to Gaza. ^e

Ashkelon will become silent, ^f

a remnant of their valley.

How long will you gash yourself?

⁶Oh, sword of the Lord! ^g

How long will you be restless?

Go back to your sheath;

be still; be silent!

⁷How can it ^hrest

when the Lord has given it a command? ⁱ

He has assigned it ^j

against Ashkelon and the shore of the sea.

Prophecies against Moab

48About Moab, ^kthis is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:

Woe to Nebo, ^lbecause it is about to be destroyed;

Kiriathaim will be put to shame; ^mit will be taken captive.

The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!

²There is no longer praise for Moab;

they plan harm against her in Heshbon: ⁿ

Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.

Also, Madmen, ^oyou will be silenced;

the sword will pursue you. ^p

³A voice cries out from Horonaim, ^q

“devastation and great disaster!” ^r

⁴Moab will be shattered;

her little ones will cry out.

⁵For on the Ascent to Luhith

they will be weeping continually, ^s

and on the descent to Horonaim

will be heard cries of distress over the destruction: ^t

⁶Flee! Save your lives! ^u

Be like a juniper bush ^vwin the wilderness.

⁷Because you trust in your works ^xand treasures,

you will be captured also.

Chemosh ^ywill go into exile

with his priests and officials. ^z

⁸The destroyer ^awill move against every town;

not one town will escape.

The valley will perish,

and the plain will be annihilated, ^b

as the Lord has said.

⁹Make Moab a salt marsh, ^cd

for she will run away; ^e

her towns will become a desolation,

without inhabitant. ^f

¹⁰The one who does

the Lord’s business deceitfully ^gis cursed, ^h

and the one who withholds

his sword from bloodshed is cursed.

¹¹Moab has been left quiet since his youth,

settled like wine on its dregs. ⁱ

He hasn’t been poured from one container to another

or gone into exile.

So his taste has remained the same,

and his aroma hasn’t changed.

¹²Therefore look, the days are coming ^j—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

when I will send those to him, who will pour him out.

They will empty his containers

and smash his jars.

¹³Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh,

just as the house of Israel was put to shame

because of Bethel ^kthat they trusted in.

¹⁴How can you say, “We are warriors—

mighty men ready for battle”?

¹⁵The destroyer of Moab and its towns

has come up, ^l

and the best of its young men

have gone down to slaughter.

This is the King’s declaration;

Yahweh of Hosts is His name. ^m

¹⁶Moab’s calamity is near at hand;

his disaster is rushing swiftly.

¹⁷Mourn for him, all you surrounding nations,

everyone who knows his name.

Say: How the mighty scepter ⁿis shattered,

the glorious staff!

¹⁸Come down from glory; sit on parched ground,

resident of the daughter of Dibon, ^o

for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;

he has destroyed your fortresses.

¹⁹Stand by the highway and look,

resident of Aroer! ^p

Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping: ^q

What happened?

²⁰Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed.

Wail and cry out! ^r

Declare by the Arnon

that Moab is destroyed.

²¹“Judgment has come to the land of the plateau ^s—to Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, ²²Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim, ²³Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon, ^t24Kerioth, ^uBozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, those far and near. ²⁵Moab’s horn is chopped off; ^vhis arm is shattered.” ^w

This is the Lord’s declaration.

²⁶“Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the Lord. ^xMoab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock. ²⁷Wasn’t Israel a laughingstock to you? ^yWas he ever found among thieves? ^zFor whenever you speak of him you shake your head.” ^a

²⁸Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs,

residents of Moab!

Be like a dove

that nests inside the mouth of a cave. ^b

²⁹We have heard of Moab’s pride,

great pride, indeed—

his insolence, arrogance, pride,

and haughty heart.

³⁰I know his outburst.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

It is empty.

His boast is empty.

³¹Therefore, I will wail over Moab.

I will cry out for Moab, all of it;

he will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

³²I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah,

with more than the weeping for Jazer.

Your tendrils have extended to the sea;

they have reached to the sea and to Jazer. ^c

The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.

³³Joy and celebration are taken from the fertile field

and from the land of Moab.

I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses;

no one will tread with shouts of joy.

The shouting is not a shout of joy. ^d

³⁴“There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices as far as Jahaz ^e—from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah—because even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate. ³⁵In Moab, I will stop”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the one who offers sacrifices on the high place and burns incense to his gods. ^f36Therefore, My heart moans like flutes for Moab, ^gand My heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. And therefore, the wealth he has gained has perished. ³⁷Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped; ^hon every hand is a gash ⁱand sackcloth ^jaround the waist. ³⁸On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants.” ^kThis is the Lord’s declaration. ³⁹“How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him.” ^l

⁴⁰For this is what the Lord says:

He will swoop down like an eagle

and spread his wings against Moab. ^m

⁴¹The towns have ⁿbeen captured,

and the strongholds seized.

In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors

will be like the heart of a woman with contractions. ^o

⁴²Moab will be destroyed as a people

because he has exalted himself against the Lord. ^p

⁴³Panic, ^qpit, and trap

await you, resident of Moab.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁴⁴He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit,

and he who climbs from the pit

will be captured in the trap,

for I will bring against Moab

the year of their punishment. ^r

This is the Lord’s declaration. ^s

⁴⁵Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon’s shadow

because fire has come out from Heshbon

and a flame from within Sihon.

It will devour Moab’s forehead

and the skull of the noisemakers.

⁴⁶Woe to you, Moab!

The people of Chemosh have perished

because your sons have been taken captive

and your daughters have gone into captivity. ^t

⁴⁷Yet, I will restore the fortunes ^uof Moab in the last days. ^v

This is the Lord’s declaration.

The judgment on Moab ends here.

Prophecies against Ammon

49About the Ammonites, ^wthis is what the Lord says:

Does Israel have no sons?

Is he without an heir?

Why then has Milcom ^xydispossessed Gad ^z

and his people settled in their cities?

²Therefore look, the days are coming ^a—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

when I will make the shout of battle ^bheard

against Rabbah ^cof the Ammonites.

It will become a desolate mound,

and its villages will be burned down.

Israel will dispossess their dispossessors,

says the Lord.

³Wail, Heshbon, ^dfor Ai is devastated;

cry out, daughters of Rabbah!

Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, ^eand lament;

run back and forth within your walls, ^f

because Milcom will go into exile

together with his priests and officials. ^g

⁴Why do you brag about your valleys,

your flowing valley, ^h

you faithless daughter?

You who trust in your treasures

and boast, “Who can attack me?”

⁵Look, I am about to bring terror on you ⁱ—

this is the declaration of

the Lord God of Hosts—

from all those around you.

You will be banished, each man headlong,

with no one to gather up the fugitives.

⁶But after that, I will restore the fortunes ^jof the Ammonites. ^k

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Prophecies against Edom

⁷About Edom, ^lthis is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? ^mn

Has counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom rotted away? ^o

⁸Run! Turn back! Lie low,

residents of Dedan, ^p

for I will bring Esau’s calamity on him ^q

at the time I punish him. ^r

⁹If grape harvesters came to you,

wouldn’t they leave some gleanings? ^s

Were thieves to come in the night,

they would destroy only what they wanted. ^t

¹⁰But I will strip Esau bare;

I will uncover his secret places. ^u

He will try to hide himself, ^vbut he will be unable.

His descendants will be destroyed

along with his relatives and neighbors.

He will exist no longer. ^w

¹¹Abandon your fatherless; I will preserve them;

let your widows trust in Me. ^x

¹²“For this is what the Lord says: If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not remain unpunished, for you must drink it too. ¹³For by Myself I have sworn” ^y—this is the Lord’s declaration—“Bozrah ^zwill become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.” ^a

¹⁴I have heard a message from the Lord;

a messenger has been sent among the nations:

Assemble yourselves to come against her.

Rise up for war!

¹⁵Look, I will certainly make you insignificant among the nations,

despised among humanity.

¹⁶As to the terror you cause, ^b

your presumptuous heart has deceived you.

You who live in the clefts of the rock, ^c

you who…