Jeremiah 47–51

A Message to the Philistines

47Before the king of Egypt attacked the city of Gaza, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is to the Philistine people.

²This is what the Lord says:

“See, the enemy is gathering in the north like rising waters.

They will become like an overflowing stream

and will cover the whole country like a flood,

even the towns and the people living in them.

Everyone living in that country

will cry for help;

the people will cry painfully.

³They will hear the sound of the running horses

and the noisy chariots

and the rumbling chariot wheels.

Parents will not help their children to safety,

because they will be too weak to help.

⁴The time has come

to destroy all the Philistines.

It is time to destroy all who are left alive

who could help the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

The Lord will soon destroy the Philistines,

those left alive from the island of Crete.

⁵The people from the city of Gaza will be sad and shave their heads.

The people from the city of Ashkelon will be made silent.

Those left alive from the valley,

how long will you cut yourselves? ⁿ

⁶“You cry, ‘Sword of the Lord,

how long will you keep fighting?

Return to your holder.

Stop and be still.’

⁷But how can his sword rest

when the Lord has given it a command?

He has ordered it

to attack Ashkelon and the seacoast.”

A Message to Moab

48This message is to the country of Moab.

This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says:

“How terrible it will be for the city of Nebo,

because it will be ruined.

The town of Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;

the strong city will be disgraced and shattered.

²Moab will not be praised again.

Men in the town of Heshbon plan Moab’s defeat.

They say, ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation!’

Town of Madmen, ⁿ you will also be silenced.

The sword will chase you.

³Listen to the cries from the town of Horonaim,

cries of much confusion and destruction.

⁴Moab will be broken up.

Her little children will cry for help.

⁵Moab’s people go up the path to the town of Luhith,

crying loudly as they go.

On the road down to Horonaim,

cries of pain and suffering can be heard.

⁶Run! Run for your lives!

Go like a bush being blown through the desert.

⁷You trust in the things you do and in your wealth,

so you also will be captured.

The god Chemosh will go into captivity

and his priests and officers with him.

⁸The destroyer will come against every town;

not one town will escape.

The valley will be ruined,

and the high plain will be destroyed,

as the Lord has said.

⁹Give wings to Moab,

because she will surely leave her land.

Moab’s towns will become empty,

with no one to live in them.

¹⁰A curse will be on anyone who doesn’t do what the Lord says,

and a curse will be on anyone who holds back his sword from killing.

¹¹“The people of Moab have never known trouble.

They are like wine left to settle;

they have never been poured from one jar to another.

They have not been taken into captivity.

So they taste as they did before,

and their smell has not changed.

¹²A time is coming,” says the Lord,

“When I will send people to pour you from your jars.

They will empty Moab’s jars

and smash her jugs.

¹³The people of Israel trusted that god in the town of Bethel,

and they were ashamed when there was no help.

In the same way Moab will be ashamed of their god Chemosh.

¹⁴“You cannot say, ‘We are warriors!

We are brave men in battle!’

¹⁵The destroyer of Moab and her towns has arrived.

Her best young men will be killed!” says the King,

whose name is the Lord All-Powerful.

¹⁶“The end of Moab is near,

and she will soon be destroyed.

¹⁷All you who live around Moab,

all you who know her, cry for her.

Say, ‘The ruler’s power is broken;

Moab’s power and glory are gone.’

¹⁸“You people living in the town of Dibon, come down from your place of honor

and sit on the dry ground,

because the destroyer of Moab has come against you.

And he has destroyed your strong, walled cities.

¹⁹You people living in the town of Aroer,

stand next to the road and watch.

See the man running away and the woman escaping.

Ask them, ‘What happened?’

²⁰Moab is filled with shame, because she is ruined.

Cry, Moab, cry out!

Announce at the Arnon River

that Moab is destroyed.

²¹People on the high plain have been punished.

Judgment has come to these towns:

Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath;

²²Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim;

²³Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon;

²⁴Kerioth and Bozrah.

Judgment has come to all the towns of Moab, far and near.

²⁵Moab’s strength has been cut off,

and its arm broken!” says the Lord.

²⁶“The people of Moab thought they were greater than the Lord,

so punish them until they act as if they are drunk.

Moab will fall and roll around in its own vomit,

and people will even make fun of it.

²⁷Moab, you made fun of Israel.

Israel was caught in the middle of a gang of thieves.

When you spoke about Israel,

you shook your head and acted as if you were better than it.

²⁸People in Moab, leave your towns empty

and go live among the rocks.

Be like a dove that makes its nest

at the entrance of a cave.

²⁹“We have heard that the people of Moab are proud,

very proud.

They are proud, very proud,

and in their hearts they think they are important.”

³⁰The Lord says,

“I know Moab’s great pride, but it is useless.

Moab’s bragging accomplishes nothing.

³¹So I cry sadly for Moab,

for everyone in Moab.

I moan for the people from the town of Kir Hareseth.

³²I cry with the people of the town of Jazer

for you, the grapevines of the town of Sibmah.

In the past your vines spread all the way to the sea,

as far as the sea of Jazer.

But the destroyer has taken over

your fruit and grapes.

³³Joy and happiness are gone

from the large, rich fields of Moab.

I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses.

No one walks on the grapes with shouts of joy.

There are shouts,

but not shouts of joy.

³⁴“Their crying can be heard from Moabite towns,

from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz.

It can be heard from Zoar as far away as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah.

Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.

³⁵I will stop Moab

from making burnt offerings at the places of worship

and from burning incense to their gods,” says the Lord.

³⁶“My heart cries sadly for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song.

It cries like a flute for the people from Kir Hareseth.

The money they made has all been taken away.

³⁷Every head has been shaved

and every beard cut off.

Everyone’s hands are cut,

and everyone wears rough cloth around his waist. ⁿ

³⁸People are crying on every roof ⁿ in Moab

and in every public square.

There is nothing but sadness,

because I have broken Moab

like a jar no one wants,” says the Lord.

³⁹“Moab is shattered! The people are crying!

Moab turns away in shame!

People all around her make fun of her.

The things that happened fill them with great fear.”

⁴⁰This is what the Lord says:

“Look! Someone is coming, like an eagle diving down from the sky

and spreading its wings over Moab.

⁴¹The towns of Moab will be captured,

and the strong, walled cities will be defeated.

At that time Moab’s warriors will be frightened,

like a woman who is having a baby.

⁴²The nation of Moab will be destroyed,

because they thought they were greater than the Lord.

⁴³Fear, deep pits, and traps wait for you,

people of Moab,” says the Lord.

⁴⁴“People will run from fear,

but they will fall into the pits.

Anyone who climbs out of the pits

will be caught in the traps.

I will bring the year of punishment to Moab,” says the Lord.

⁴⁵“People have run from the powerful enemy

and have gone to Heshbon for safety.

But fire started in Heshbon;

a blaze has spread from the hometown of Sihon king of Moab.

It burned up the leaders of Moab

and destroyed those proud people.

⁴⁶How terrible it is for you, Moab!

The people who worship Chemosh have been destroyed.

Your sons have been taken captive,

and your daughters have been taken away.

⁴⁷“But in days to come,

I will make good things happen again to Moab,” says the Lord.

This ends the judgment on Moab.

A Message to Ammon

49This message is to the Ammonite people.

This is what the Lord says:

“Do you think that Israel has no children?

Do you think there is no one to take the land when the parents die?

If that were true, why did Molech take Gad’s land

and why did Molech’s people settle in Gad’s towns?”

²The Lord says,

“The time will come when I will make Rabbah,

the capital city of the Ammonites, hear the battle cry.

It will become a hill covered with ruins,

and the towns around it will be burned.

Those people forced Israel out of that land,

but now Israel will force them out!” says the Lord.

³“People in the town of Heshbon, cry sadly because the town of Ai is destroyed!

Those who live in Rabbah, cry out!

Put on your rough cloth to show your sadness, and cry loudly.

Run here and there for safety inside the walls,

because Molech will be taken captive

and his priests and officers with him.

⁴You brag about your valleys

and about the fruit in your valleys.

You are like an unfaithful child

who believes his treasures will save him.

You think, ‘Who would attack me?’

⁵I will soon bring terror on you

from everyone around you,”

says the Lord God All-Powerful.

“You will all be forced to run away,

and no one will be able to gather you.

⁶“But the time will come

when I will make good things happen to the Ammonites again,”

says the Lord.

A Message to Edom

⁷This message is to Edom. This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:

“Is there no more wisdom in the town of Teman?

Can the wise men of Edom no longer give good advice?

Have they lost their wisdom?

⁸You people living in the town of Dedan,

run away and hide in deep caves,

because I will bring disaster on the people of Esau.

It is time for me to punish them.

⁹If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines,

they would leave a few grapes behind.

If robbers came at night,

they would steal only enough for themselves.

¹⁰But I will strip Edom bare.

I will find all their hiding places,

so they will not be able to hide from me.

The children, relatives, and neighbors will die,

and Edom will be no more.

¹¹Leave the orphans, and I will take care of them.

Your widows also can trust in me.”

¹²This is what the Lord says: “Some people did not…