Jeremiah 49:8–22

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 occupy the mountain summit,

though you elevate your nest like the eagle,

even from there I will bring you down.

This is the Lord’s declaration. ^d

¹⁷“Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds. ^e18As when Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” ^fsays the Lord, “no one will live there; no human being will even stay in it as a temporary resident. ^g

¹⁹“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets ^hof the Jordan to the watered grazing land. ⁱIndeed, I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? ^jWho will summon Me? ^kWho is the shepherd who can stand against Me?” ^l

²⁰Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: ^mThe flock’s little lambs will certainly be dragged away, ⁿand their grazing land will be made desolate because of them. ^o21At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; ^pthe sound of her cry will be heard at the Red Sea. ^q22Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions. ^r