Jeremiah 49–50

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 deserve to be punished, but they had to drink from the cup of suffering anyway. People of Edom, you deserve to be punished, so you will not escape punishment. You must certainly drink from the cup of suffering.” ¹³The Lord says, “I swear by my own name that the city of Bozrah will become a pile of ruins! People will be shocked by what happened there. They will insult that city and speak evil of it. And all the towns around it will become ruins forever.”

¹⁴I have heard a message from the Lord.

A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,

“Gather your armies to attack it!

Get ready for battle!”

¹⁵“Soon I will make you the smallest of nations,

and you will be greatly hated by everyone.

¹⁶Edom, you frightened other nations,

but your pride has fooled you.

You live in the hollow places of the cliff

and control the high places of the hills.

Even if you build your home as high as an eagle’s nest,

I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.

¹⁷“Edom will be destroyed.

People who pass by will be shocked to see the destroyed cities,

and they will be amazed at all her injuries.

¹⁸Edom will be destroyed like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah

and the towns around them,” says the Lord.

“No one will live there!

No one will stay in Edom.”

¹⁹“Like a lion coming up from the thick bushes near the Jordan River

to attack a strong pen for sheep,

I will suddenly chase Edom from its land.

Who is the one I have chosen to do this?

There is no one like me,

no one who can take me to court.

None of their leaders can stand up against me.”

²⁰So listen to what the Lord has planned to do against Edom.

Listen to what he has decided to do to the people in the town of Teman.

He will surely drag away the young ones of Edom.

Their hometowns will surely be shocked at what happens to them.

²¹At the sound of Edom’s fall, the earth will shake.

Their cry will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.

²²The Lord is like an eagle swooping down

and spreading its wings over the city of Bozrah.

At that time Edom’s soldiers will become very frightened,

like a woman having a baby.

A Message to Damascus

²³This message is to the city of Damascus:

“The towns of Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,

because they have heard bad news.

They are discouraged.

They are troubled like the tossing sea.

²⁴The city of Damascus has become weak.

The people want to run away;

they are ready to panic.

The people feel pain and suffering,

like a woman giving birth to a baby.

²⁵Damascus was a city of my joy.

Why have the people not left that famous city yet?

²⁶Surely the young men will die in the city squares,

and all her soldiers will be killed at that time,” says the Lord All-Powerful.

²⁷“I will set fire to the walls of Damascus,

and it will completely burn the strong cities of King Ben-Hadad.”

A Message to Kedar and Hazor

²⁸This message is to the tribe of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. This is what the Lord says:

“Go and attack the people of Kedar,

and destroy the people of the East.

²⁹Their tents and flocks will be taken away.

Their belongings will be carried off—

their tents, all their goods, and their camels.

Men will shout to them,

‘Terror on every side!’

³⁰“Run away quickly!

People in Hazor, find a good place to hide!” says the Lord.

“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made plans against you

and wants to defeat you.

³¹“Get up! Attack the nation that is comfortable,

that is sure no one will defeat it,” says the Lord.

“It does not have gates or fences to protect it.

Its people live alone.

³²The enemy will steal their camels

and their large herds of cattle as war prizes.

I will scatter the people who cut their hair short to every part of the earth,

and I will bring disaster on them from everywhere,” says the Lord.

³³“The city of Hazor will become a home for wild dogs;

it will be an empty desert forever.

No one will live there,

and no one will stay in it.”

A Message to Elam

³⁴Soon after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the Lord spoke this word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is to the nation of Elam.

³⁵This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:

“I will soon break Elam’s bow,

its greatest strength.

³⁶I will bring the four winds against Elam

from the four corners of the skies.

I will scatter its people everywhere the four winds blow;

its captives will go to every nation.

³⁷I will terrify Elam in front of their enemies,

who want to destroy them.

I will bring disaster to Elam

and show them how angry I am!” says the Lord.

“I will send a sword to chase Elam

until I have killed them all.

³⁸I will set up my throne in Elam to show that I am king,

and I will destroy its king and its officers!” says the Lord.

³⁹“But I will make good things happen to Elam again

in the future,” says the Lord.

A Message to Babylon

50This is the message the Lord spoke to Babylon and the Babylonian people through Jeremiah the prophet.

²“Announce this to the nations.

Lift up a banner and tell them.

Speak the whole message and say:

‘Babylon will be captured.

The god Bel will be put to shame,

and the god Marduk will be afraid.

Babylon’s gods will be put to shame,

and her idols will be afraid!’

³A nation from the north will attack Babylon

and make it like an empty desert.

No one will live there;

both people and animals will run away.”

⁴The Lord says, “At that time

the people of Israel and Judah will come together.

They will cry and look for the Lord their God.

⁵Those people will ask how to go to Jerusalem

and will start in that direction.

They will come and join themselves to the Lord.

They will make an agreement with him that will last forever,

an agreement that will never be forgotten.

⁶“My people have been like lost sheep.

Their leaders have led them in the wrong way

and made them wander around in the mountains and hills.

They forgot where their resting place was.

⁷Whoever saw my people hurt them.

And those enemies said, ‘We did nothing wrong.

Those people sinned against the Lord, their true resting place,

the God their fathers trusted.’

⁸“Run away from Babylon,

and leave the land of the Babylonians.

Be like the goats that lead the flock.

⁹I will soon bring against Babylon

many great nations from the north.

They will take their places for war against it,

and it will be captured by people from the north.

Their arrows are like trained soldiers

who do not return from war with empty hands.

¹⁰The enemy will take all the wealth from the Babylonians.

Those enemy soldiers will get all they want,” says the Lord.

¹¹“Babylon, you are excited and happy,

because you took my land.

You dance around like a young cow in the grain.

Your laughter is like the neighing of male horses.

¹²Your mother will be very ashamed;

the woman who gave birth to you will be disgraced.

Soon Babylonia will be the least important of all the nations.

She will be an empty, dry desert.

¹³Because of the Lord’s anger,

no one will live there.

She will be completely empty.

Everyone who passes by Babylon will be shocked.

They will shake their heads when they see all her injuries.

¹⁴“Take your positions for war against Babylon,

all you soldiers with bows.

Shoot your arrows at Babylon! Do not save any of them,

because Babylon has sinned against the Lord.

¹⁵Soldiers around Babylon, shout the war cry!

Babylon has surrendered, her towers have fallen,

and her walls have been torn down.

The Lord is giving her people the punishment they deserve.

You nations should give her what she deserves;

do to her what she has done to others.

¹⁶Don’t let the people from Babylon plant their crops

or gather the harvest.

The soldiers treated their captives cruelly.

Now, let everyone go back home.

Let everyone run to his own country.

¹⁷“The people of Israel are like a flock of sheep that are scattered

from being chased by lions.

The first lion to eat them up

was the king of Assyria.

The last lion to crush their bones

was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

¹⁸So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says:

“I will punish…