Jeremiah 49–50

You’re a Broken-Down Has-Been

^1–649God’s Message on the Ammonites:

“Doesn’t Israel have any children,

no one to step into her inheritance?

So why is the god Milcom taking over Gad’s land,

his followers moving into its towns?

But not for long! The time’s coming”

—God’s Decree—

“When I’ll fill the ears of Rabbah, Ammon’s big city,

with battle cries.

She’ll end up a pile of rubble,

all her towns burned to the ground.

Then Israel will kick out the invaders.

I, God, say so, and it will be so.

Wail Heshbon, Ai is in ruins.

Villages of Rabbah, wring your hands!

Dress in mourning, weep buckets of tears.

Go into hysterics, run around in circles!

Your god Milcom will be hauled off to exile,

and all his priests and managers right with him.

Why do you brag of your once-famous strength?

You’re a broken-down has-been, a castoff

Who fondles his trophies and dreams of glory days

and vainly thinks, ‘No one can lay a hand on me.’

Well, think again. I’ll face you with terror from all sides.”

Word of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

“You’ll be stampeded headlong,

with no one to round up the runaways.

Still, the time will come

when I will make things right with Ammon.” God’s Decree.

Strutting Across the Stage of History

^7–11The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies on Edom:

“Is there nobody wise left in famous Teman?

no one with a sense of reality?

Has their wisdom gone wormy and rotten?

Run for your lives! Get out while you can!

Find a good place to hide,

you who live in Dedan!

I’m bringing doom to Esau.

It’s time to settle accounts.

When harvesters work your fields,

don’t they leave gleanings?

When burglars break into your house,

don’t they take only what they want?

But I’ll strip Esau clean.

I’ll search out every nook and cranny.

I’ll destroy everything connected with him,

children and relatives and neighbors.

There’ll be no one left who will be able to say,

‘I’ll take care of your orphans.

Your widows can depend on me.’ ”

^12–13Indeed. God says, “I tell you, if there are people who have to drink the cup of God’s wrath even though they don’t deserve it, why would you think you’d get off? You won’t get off. You’ll drink it. Oh yes, you’ll drink every drop. And as for Bozrah, your capital, I swear by all that I am”—God’s Decree—“that that city will end up a pile of charred ruins, a stinking garbage dump, an obscenity—and all her daughter-cities with her.”

¹⁴I’ve just heard the latest from God.

He’s sent an envoy to the nations:

“Muster your troops and attack Edom.

Present arms! Go to war!”

^15–16“Ah, Edom, I’m dropping you to last place among nations,

the bottom of the heap, kicked around.

You think you’re so great—

strutting across the stage of history,

Living high in the impregnable rocks,

acting like king of the mountain.

You think you’re above it all, don’t you,

like an eagle in its aerie?

Well, you’re headed for a fall.

I’ll bring you crashing to the ground.” God’s Decree.

^17–18“Edom will end up trash. Stinking, despicable trash. A wonder of the world in reverse. She’ll join Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors in the sewers of history.” God says so.

“No one will live there,

no mortal soul move in there.

¹⁹“Watch this: Like a lion coming up

from the thick jungle of the Jordan

Looking for prey in the mountain pastures,

I will come upon Edom and pounce.

I’ll take my pick of the flock—and who’s to stop me?

The shepherds of Edom are helpless before me.”

^20–22So, listen to this plan that God has worked out against Edom, the blueprint of what he’s prepared for those who live in Teman:

“Believe it or not, the young, the vulnerable—

mere lambs and kids—will be dragged off.

Believe it or not, the flock

in shock, helpless to help, will watch it happen.

The very earth will shudder because of their cries,

cries of anguish heard at the distant Red Sea.

Look! An eagle soars, swoops down,

spreads its wings over Bozrah.

Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,

like a woman giving birth to a baby.”

The Blood Will Drain from the Face of Damascus

^23–27The Message on Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad will be in shock

when they hear the bad news.

Their hearts will melt in fear

as they pace back and forth in worry.

The blood will drain from the face of Damascus

as she turns to flee.

Hysterical, she’ll fall to pieces,

disabled, like a woman in childbirth.

And now how lonely—bereft, abandoned!

The once famous city, the once happy city.

Her bright young men dead in the streets,

her brave warriors silent as death.

On that day”—Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies—

“I’ll start a fire at the wall of Damascus

that will burn down all of Ben-hadad’s forts.”

Find a Safe Place to Hide

^28–33The Message on Kedar and the sheikdoms of Hazor who were attacked by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This is God’s Message:

“On your feet! Attack Kedar!

Plunder the Bedouin nomads from the east.

Grab their blankets and pots and pans.

Steal their camels.

Traumatize them, shouting, ‘Terror! Death! Doom!

Danger everywhere!’

Oh, run for your lives,

You nomads from Hazor.” God’s Decree.

“Find a safe place to hide.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

has plans to wipe you out,

to go after you with a vengeance:

‘After them,’ he says. ‘Go after these relaxed nomads

who live free and easy in the desert,

Who live in the open with no doors to lock,

who live off by themselves.’

Their camels are there for the taking,

their herds and flocks, easy picking.

I’ll scatter them to the four winds,

these defenseless nomads on the fringes of the desert.

I’ll bring terror from every direction.

They won’t know what hit them.” God’s Decree.

“Jackals will take over the camps of Hazor,

camps abandoned to wind and sand.

No one will live there,

no mortal soul move in there.”

The Winds Will Blow Away Elam

^34–39God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah on Elam at the outset of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says:

“Watch this! I’ll break Elam’s bow,

her weapon of choice, across my knee.

Then I’ll let four winds loose on Elam,

winds from the four corners of earth.

I’ll blow them away in all directions,

landing homeless Elamites in every country on earth.

They’ll live in constant fear and terror

among enemies who want to kill them.

I’ll bring doom on them,

my anger-fueled doom.

I’ll set murderous hounds on their heels

until there’s nothing left of them.

And then I’ll set up my throne in Elam,

having thrown out the king and his henchmen.

But the time will come when I make

everything right for Elam again.” God’s Decree.

Get Out of Babylon as Fast as You Can

^1–350The Message of God through the prophet Jeremiah on Babylon, land of the Chaldeans:

“Get the word out to the nations! Preach it!

Go public with this, broadcast it far and wide:

Babylon taken, god-Bel hanging his head in shame,

god-Marduk exposed as a fraud.

All her god-idols shuffling in shame,

all her play-gods exposed as cheap frauds.

For a nation will come out of the north to attack her,

reduce her cities to rubble.

Empty of life—no animals, no people—

not a sound, not a movement, not a breath.

^4–5“In those days, at that time”—God’s Decree—

“the people of Israel will come,

And the people of Judah with them.

Walking and weeping, they’ll seek me, their God.

They’ll ask directions to Zion

and set their faces toward Zion.

They’ll come and hold tight to God,

bound in a covenant eternal they’ll never forget.

^6–7“My people were lost sheep.

Their shepherds led them astray.

They abandoned them in the mountains

where they wandered aimless through the hills.

They lost track of home,

couldn’t remember where they came from.

Everyone who met them took advantage of them.

Their enemies had no qualms:

‘Fair game,’ they said. ‘They walked out on God.

They abandoned the True Pasture, the hope of their parents.’

^8–10“But now, get out of Babylon as fast as you can.

Be rid of that Babylonian country.

On your way. Good sheepdogs lead, but don’t you be led.

Lead the way home!

Do you see what I’m doing?

I’m rallying a host of nations against Babylon.

They’ll come out of the north,

attack and take her.

Oh, they know how to fight, these armies.

They never come home empty-handed.

Babylon is ripe for picking!

All her plunderers will fill their bellies!” God’s Decree.

^11–16“You Babylonians had a good time while it lasted, didn’t you?

You lived it up, exploiting and using my people,

Frisky calves romping in lush pastures,

wild stallions out having a good time!

Well, your mother would hardly be proud of you.

The woman who bore you wouldn’t be pleased.

Look at what’s come of you! A nothing nation!

Rubble and garbage and weeds!

Emptied of life by my holy anger,

a desert of death and emptiness.

Travelers who pass by Babylon will gasp, appalled,

shaking their heads at such a comedown.

Gang up on Babylon! Pin her down!

Throw everything you have against her.

Hold nothing back. Knock her flat.

She’s sinned—oh, how she’s sinned, against me!

Shout battle cries from every direction.

All the fight has gone out of her.

Her defenses have been flattened,

her walls smashed.

‘Operation God’s Vengeance.’

Pile on the vengeance!

Do to her as she has done.

Give her a good dose of her own medicine!

Destroy her farms and farmers,

ravage her fields, empty her barns.

And you captives, while the destruction rages,

get out while the getting’s good,

get out fast and run for home.

¹⁷“Israel is a scattered flock,

hunted down by lions.

The king of Assyria started the carnage.

The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar,

Has completed the job,

gnawing the bones clean.”

^18–20And now this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

the God of Israel, has to say:

“Just watch! I’m bringing doom on the king of Babylon and his land,

the same doom I brought on the king of Assyria.

But Israel I’ll bring home to good pastures.

He’ll graze on the hills of Carmel and Bashan,

On the slopes of Ephraim and Gilead.

He will eat to his heart’s content.

In those days and at that time”—God’s Decree—

“they’ll look high and low for a sign of Israel’s guilt—nothing;

Search nook and cranny for a trace of Judah’s sin—nothing.

These people that I’ve saved will start out with a clean slate.

²¹“Attack Merathaim, land of rebels!

Go after Pekod, country of doom!

Hunt them down. Make a clean sweep.” God’s Decree.

“These are my…