Jeremiah 47–51

A Message Concerning the Philistines

47The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before^a Pharaoh attacked Gaza. ²Thus says Yahweh:

“Look, waters are rising from the north,

and they will become as a raging torrent,

and they will overflow the land,

and that which fills it,

the city and those who live in it.

And the people will cry out,

and every inhabitant of the land will wail,

³from the sound of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,

from the clattering of his chariots,^b

the noise of their wheels.

Fathers do not turn to their children

because of the slackness of their hands.

⁴Because of the day that is coming

to destroy all the Philistines,

to cut off from Tyre and from Sidon

every survivor who could help,

for Yahweh is destroying the Philistines,

the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.

⁵Baldness has come upon Gaza,

Ashkelon is destroyed.

O remnant of their valley,

how long^c will you cut yourself with a blade?

⁶Ah, sword of Yahweh,

how long^d will you not be quiet?

Gather to your sheath,

keep quiet and stand still.

⁷How can you be quiet

when Yahweh has given an order to it?

Against Ashkelon and against the shore of the sea,

there he has appointed it.”

A Message Concerning Moab

48Concerning Moab, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to Nebo,

for it is devastated.

It is ashamed,

Kiriathaim is captured.

Misgab is ashamed,

and it is filled with terror.

²The glory of Moab is no longer.

In Heshbon they planned evil against her.

Come and let us cut her off from being a nation.

Also, Madmen, you will be silent.

After you will go the sword.

³The sound of a cry of distress arises from Horonaim,

devastation and great destruction.

⁴Moab is broken,

her little ones make heard^a a cry for help.

⁵For the ascent of Luhith,

in weeping they go weeping,

For on the slope of Horonaim they have heard

the distresses of the cry of distress of the destruction.

⁶Flee! Save your life!

For^b you must be like the juniper tree in the desert.

⁷For because of your trusting in your works and in your treasures,

even you yourselves will be taken,

and Chemosh will go out into the exile,

his priests and his officials together.

⁸And the destroyer will come to every town,

and a town will not escape.

And the valley will be destroyed,

and the plain will be destroyed, as Yahweh has spoken.

⁹Give salt for Moab,

for certainly she will go to ruin,

and her towns will become as a desolation,

without^c an inhabitant in them.

¹⁰The one who does the work of Yahweh with slackness is cursed,

and the one who keeps away blood from his sword is cursed.

¹¹Moab has been at ease from his youth,

and he has been quiet on his dregs,

and he has not been poured out from vessel to vessel,

and he has not gone into exile.

Therefore^d his taste has remained unchanged,

and his fragrance has not changed.

¹²Therefore^e look, days are coming,” declares^f Yahweh,

“and I will send to him decanters,^g

and they will decant him,

and his vessels they will empty out,

and their jars they will smash.

¹³Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,

just as the house of Israel were ashamed of Bethel, their trust.

¹⁴How can you say, ‘we are warriors,

and men of might for the battle.’

¹⁵Moab is destroyed,

and his towns have gone up,

and the choice of his young men have gone down to the slaughtering,”

declares^h the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.

¹⁶“The disaster of Moab is near to come,

and his disaster approaches very quickly.ⁱ

¹⁷Mourn for him, all his surroundings,

and all those who knew his name.

Say, ‘How the staff of might is broken,

the staff of glory.’

¹⁸Come down from glory and sit on the parched ground,

O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon,

for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,

he has destroyed your fortifications.

¹⁹Stand by the road and watch,

O inhabitant of Aroer.

Ask the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping,

say, ‘What has happened?’

²⁰Moab is ashamed,

for it is filled with terror.

Wail and cry out,

tell it by Arnon that Moab is devastated.

²¹Judgment has also come to the land of the plain, to Holon, and to Jahaz, and on Mephaath, ²²and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim, ²³and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon, ²⁴and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the towns of the land of Moab, the far and the near. ²⁵The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken,” declares^j Yahweh.

²⁶“Make him drunk,

because he magnified himself against Yahweh,

and let Moab wallow in his vomit.

And he also will become a laughingstock.

²⁷Now was not Israel the laughingstock to you?

Or was he found among thieves?

For as often as^k you spoke over him

you shook your head.

²⁸Leave the towns and dwell on the rock,

O inhabitants of Moab,

and be like the dove,

it nests on the sides of the mouth of a ravine.

²⁹We have heard of the pride of Moab

—he is very proud—

his height, and his pride, and his arrogance,

and the haughtiness of his heart.

³⁰I know his insolence,” declares^l Yahweh,

“and his boastings are false;^m

they act falsely.ⁿ

³¹Therefore^o over Moab I wail,

and for all of Moab I cry out,

for the people^p of Kir-heres I moan.

³²More than the weeping of Jazer

I weep for you, O vine Sibmah.

Your branches cross over the sea,

up to the sea of Jazer they reach.

Upon your summer fruit and upon your vintage

the destroyer has fallen.

³³And joy and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruitful land,

even from the land of Moab.

And the wine from the wine presses

I have caused to disappear.

He will not tread with exuberant shouts.^q

Exuberant shouts^r will not be exuberant shouts.^s

³⁴From the cry for help of Heshbon, up to Elealeh,

up to Jahaz, they give their voice,

from Zoar up to Horonaim, up to Eglath-shelishiyah,

for even the waters of Nimrim have become as a desolation.

³⁵And I will cause to disappear for Moab,” declares^t Yahweh,

“the one who presents a sacrifice at a high place,

and the one who burns a smoke offering to his gods.

³⁶Therefore^u my heart moans for Moab like the flute.^v

It moans for the people^w of Kir-heres like the flute.^x

Therefore^y the wealth they gained has perished.

³⁷For on every head is baldness,

and every beard is trimmed.

On all the hands, slashes,

and on the loins, sackcloth.

³⁸On all the roofs of Moab, and in its public squares,

there is wailing everywhere.

For I have broken Moab like a vessel,

there is no delight in it,” declares^z Yahweh.

³⁹“How it is filled with terror! How they wail!

How Moab has turned his back! He is disgraced!

So Moab has become as a derision,

and as a terror for all his surrounding peoples.”

⁴⁰For thus says Yahweh,

“Look, like an eagle he will swoop down,

and he will spread out his wings against Moab.

⁴¹Kerioth will be taken,

and the strongholds will be conquered,

and the hearts^a of the warriors of Moab will be on that day

like the heart of a woman who is in labor.

⁴²And Moab will be destroyed from being a people,

because against Yahweh he magnified himself.

⁴³Dread, and pit, and a trapping net are against you,

O inhabitant of Moab,” declares^b Yahweh.

⁴⁴“He who flees before^c the dread

will fall into the pit,

and the one who climbs up from the pit

will be caught in the trapping net,

for I will bring on Moab

the year of their punishment,” declares^d Yahweh.

⁴⁵“In the shadow of Heshbon

fugitives stand without strength,

for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,

and a flame from Sihon.

And it has eaten the forehead of Moab,

and the skulls^e of the people^f of tumult.

⁴⁶Woe to you, Moab!

The people of Chemosh have perished.

For your sons have been taken into captivity,

and your daughters into captivity.

⁴⁷Yet I will restore the fortunes^g of Moab

in the last of the days,” declares^h Yahweh.

Thus farⁱ is the judgment of Moab.

A Message Concerning Ammon

49Concerning the Ammonites:^a Thus says Yahweh,

“Are there no sons for Israel?

Or is there no heir for him?

Why has Milcom taken possession of Gad,

and his people dwelled in its towns?

²Therefore^b look, days are coming,” declares^c Yahweh,

“and I will sound against Rabbah, the Ammonites,^d

the alarm of the war,

and it will become as a mound of desolation,

and its daughters will burn in the fire.

Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors,” says Yahweh.

³“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated.

Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth.

Lament and run back and forth among the walls.

For Milcom will go into exile,

his priests and his officials together.

⁴Why do you boast in your valleys?

Your valleys^e are ebbing.

O unfaithful daughter, who trusted in her treasures,

who said, ‘Who will come against me?’

⁵Look, I am going to bring dread on you,”

declares^f Lord Yahweh of hosts,

“from all your surrounding neighbors.

And you will be scattered,

each one before it,^g

and there is no one who gathers the fugitives.^h

⁶Yet afterwardⁱ I will restore

the fortunes^j of the Ammonites,”^k declares^l Yahweh.

A Message Concerning Edom

⁷Concerning Edom, thus says Yahweh of hosts:

“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?

Has counsel become lost from those who understand?

Is their wisdom rotting?

⁸Flee! Turn back! Get down low!^m

O inhabitants of Dedan.

For I will bring upon him the disaster of Esau

at the time when I will punish him.

⁹If grape-gatherers come to you,

would they not leave gleanings?

If thieves in the night,

they destroy only enough for them.ⁿ

¹⁰But I have stripped Esau bare.

I have uncovered his hiding places,

and he is not able to hide himself.

His offspring are devastated, along with^o his brothers,

and his neighbors, and he is no more.^p

¹¹Leave your orphans. I will let them^q live.

And your widows, let them trust in me.”

¹²For thus says Yahweh, “Look, those who are not condemned^r to drink the cup must certainly drink it.^s And are you the one who will go entirely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must certainly drink it.^{t 13}For I have sworn by myself,” declares^u Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become as a horror, as a disgrace, as a waste, and as a curse. And all her towns will be…