^25:1The word of the Lord came to me: ^25:2“Son of man, turn toward¹ the Ammonites² and prophesy against them. ^25:3Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: You said “Aha!” about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile. ^25:4So take note,³ I am about to make you slaves of⁴ the tribes⁵ of the east. They will make camps among you and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk. ^25:5I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon⁶ a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ^25:6For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with intense scorn⁷ over the land of Israel, ^25:7take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder⁸ to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

A Prophecy Against Moab

^25:8“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Moab⁹ and Seir say, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations.” ^25:9So look, I am about to open up Moab’s flank,¹⁰ eliminating the cities,¹¹ including its frontier cities,¹² the beauty of the land—Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim. ^25:10I will hand it over,¹³ along with the Ammonites,¹⁴ to the tribes¹⁵ of the east, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations. ^25:11I will execute judgments against Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

A Prophecy Against Edom

^25:12“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom¹⁶ has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable¹⁷ by taking vengeance¹⁸ on them.¹⁹^25:13So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her,²⁰ and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die²¹ by the sword. ^25:14I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience²² my vengeance, declares the sovereign Lord.’ ”

A Prophecy Against Philistia

^25:15“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines²³ have exacted merciless revenge,²⁴ showing intense scorn²⁵ in their effort to destroy Judah²⁶ with unrelenting hostility.²⁷^25:16So this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note, I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines. I will kill²⁸ the Cherethites²⁹ and destroy those who remain on the seacoast. ^25:17I will exact great vengeance upon them with angry rebukes.³⁰ Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I exact my vengeance upon them.’ ”

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Footnotes

1 Heb “set your face toward.”
2 Heb “the sons of Ammon.” Ammon was located to the east of Israel.
3 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something and has been translated here with a verb (so also throughout the chapter).
4 Heb “Look I am about to give you for a possession to.”
5 Heb “sons.”
6 Heb “the sons of Ammon.”
7 Heb “with all your scorn in (the) soul.”
8 The translation here follows the marginal reading (Qere) of the Hebrew text. The consonantal text (Kethib) is meaningless.
9 Moab was located immediately south of Ammon.
10 Heb “shoulder.”
11 Heb “from the cities.” The verb “eliminating” has been added in the translation to reflect the privative use of the preposition (see 583 מִן 7.b).
12 Heb “from its cities, from its end.”
13 Heb “I will give it for a possession.”
14 Heb “the sons of Ammon” (twice in this verse).
15 Heb “the sons.”
16 Edom was located south of Moab.
17 Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.
18 Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”
19 Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. (Ps 137:7; Lam 5:21, 22; Joel 3:19; Obadiah).
20 Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”
21 Heb “fall.”
22 Heb “know.”
23 The Philistines inhabited the coastal plain by the Mediterranean Sea, west of Judah.
24 Heb “have acted with vengeance and taken vengeance with vengeance.” The repetition emphasizes the degree of vengeance which they exhibited, presumably toward Judah.
25 Heb “with scorn in (the) soul.”
26 The object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but has been clarified as “Judah” in the translation.
27 Heb “to destroy (with) perpetual hostility.” Joel 3:4–8 also speaks of the Philistines taking advantage of the fall of Judah.
28 In Hebrew the verb “and I will cut off” sounds like its object, “the Cherethites,” and draws attention to the statement.
29 This is a name for the Philistines, many of whom migrated to Palestine from Crete.
30 Heb “with acts of punishment of anger.”