Jeremiah 47–51

A Message About the Philistines

47This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines^g before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:^h

²This is what the Lord says:

“See how the waters are rising in the north;ⁱ

they will become an overflowing torrent.

They will overflow the land and everything in it,

the towns and those who live in them.

The people will cry out;

all who dwell in the land will wail^j

³at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,

at the noise of enemy chariots^k

and the rumble of their wheels.

Parents will not turn to help their children;

their hands will hang limp.^l

⁴For the day has come

to destroy all the Philistines

and to remove all survivors

who could help Tyre^m and Sidon.ⁿ

The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,^o

the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.^ap

⁵Gaza will shave^q her head in mourning;

Ashkelon^r will be silenced.

You remnant on the plain,

how long will you cut^s yourselves?

⁶“ ‘Alas, sword^t of the Lord,

how long till you rest?

Return to your sheath;

cease and be still.’^u

⁷But how can it rest

when the Lord has commanded it,

when he has ordered it

to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”^v

A Message About Moab

48:29–36pp—Isa 16:6–12

48Concerning Moab:^w

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“Woe to Nebo,^x for it will be ruined.

Kiriathaim^y will be disgraced and captured;

the stronghold^a will be disgraced and shattered.

²Moab will be praised^z no more;

in Heshbon^ba people will plot her downfall:

‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’^b

You, the people of Madmen,^c will also be silenced;

the sword will pursue you.

³Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,^c

cries of great havoc and destruction.

⁴Moab will be broken;

her little ones will cry out.^d

⁵They go up the hill to Luhith,^d

weeping bitterly as they go;

on the road down to Horonaim^e

anguished cries over the destruction are heard.

⁶Flee!^f Run for your lives;

become like a bush^e in the desert.^g

⁷Since you trust in your deeds and riches,^h

you too will be taken captive,

and Chemoshⁱ will go into exile,^j

together with his priests and officials.^k

⁸The destroyer^l will come against every town,

and not a town will escape.

The valley will be ruined

and the plateau^m destroyed,

because the Lord has spoken.

⁹Put saltⁿ on Moab,

for she will be laid waste^f;^o

her towns will become desolate,

with no one to live in them.

¹⁰“A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!

A curse on anyone who keeps their sword^p from bloodshed!^q

¹¹“Moab has been at rest^r from youth,

like wine left on its dregs,^s

not poured from one jar to another—

she has not gone into exile.

So she tastes as she did,

and her aroma is unchanged.

¹²But days are coming,”

declares the Lord,

“when I will send men who pour from pitchers,

and they will pour her out;

they will empty her pitchers

and smash her jars.

¹³Then Moab will be ashamed^t of Chemosh,^u

as Israel was ashamed

when they trusted in Bethel.^v

¹⁴“How can you say, ‘We are warriors,^w

men valiant in battle’?

¹⁵Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;

her finest young men^x will go down in the slaughter,^y”

declares the King,^z whose name is the Lord Almighty.^a

¹⁶“The fall of Moab is at hand;^b

her calamity will come quickly.

¹⁷Mourn for her, all who live around her,

all who know her fame;^c

say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter,^d

how broken the glorious staff!’

¹⁸“Come down from your glory

and sit on the parched ground,^e

you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,^f

for the one who destroys Moab

will come up against you

and ruin your fortified cities.^g

¹⁹Stand by the road and watch,

you who live in Aroer.^h

Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,

ask them, ‘What has happened?’

²⁰Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.

Wailⁱ and cry out!

Announce by the Arnon^j

that Moab is destroyed.

²¹Judgment has come to the plateau^k—

to Holon,^l Jahzah^m and Mephaath,ⁿ

²²to Dibon,^o Nebo^p and Beth Diblathaim,

²³to Kiriathaim,^q Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,^r

²⁴to Kerioth^s and Bozrah^t—

to all the towns^u of Moab, far and near.

²⁵Moab’s horn^gv is cut off;

her arm^w is broken,”

declares the Lord.

²⁶“Make her drunk,^x

for she has defied^y the Lord.

Let Moab wallow in her vomit;^z

let her be an object of ridicule.^a

²⁷Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?^b

Was she caught among thieves,^c

that you shake your head^d in scorn^e

whenever you speak of her?

²⁸Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,

you who live in Moab.

Be like a dove^f that makes its nest

at the mouth of a cave.^g

²⁹“We have heard of Moab’s pride^h—

how great is her arrogance!—

of her insolence, her pride, her conceit

and the haughtinessⁱ of her heart.

³⁰I know her insolence but it is futile,”

declares the Lord,

“and her boasts^j accomplish nothing.

³¹Therefore I wail^k over Moab,

for all Moab I cry out,

I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.^l

³²I weep for you, as Jazer^m weeps,

you vines of Sibmah.ⁿ

Your branches spread as far as the sea^h;

they reached as far asⁱ Jazer.

The destroyer has fallen

on your ripened fruit and grapes.

³³Joy and gladness are gone

from the orchards and fields of Moab.

I have stopped the flow of wine^o from the presses;

no one treads them with shouts of joy.^p

Although there are shouts,

they are not shouts of joy.

³⁴“The sound of their cry rises

from Heshbon^q to Elealeh^r and Jahaz,^s

from Zoar^t as far as Horonaim^u and Eglath Shelishiyah,

for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.^v

³⁵In Moab I will put an end

to those who make offerings on the high places^w

and burn incense^x to their gods,”

declares the Lord.

³⁶“So my heart laments^y for Moab like the music of a pipe;

it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth.^z

The wealth they acquired^a is gone.

³⁷Every head is shaved^b

and every beard^c cut off;

every hand is slashed

and every waist is covered with sackcloth.^d

³⁸On all the roofs in Moab

and in the public squares^e

there is nothing but mourning,

for I have broken Moab

like a jar^f that no one wants,”

declares the Lord.

³⁹“How shattered^g she is! How they wail!

How Moab turns her back in shame!

Moab has become an object of ridicule,^h

an object of horror to all those around her.”

⁴⁰This is what the Lord says:

“Look! An eagle is swoopingⁱ down,

spreading its wings^j over Moab.

⁴¹Kerioth^jk will be captured

and the strongholds taken.

In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors^l

will be like the heart of a woman in labor.^m

⁴²Moab will be destroyedⁿ as a nation^o

because she defied^p the Lord.

⁴³Terror^q and pit and snare^r await you,

you people of Moab,”

declares the Lord.

⁴⁴“Whoever flees^s from the terror

will fall into a pit,

whoever climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a snare;

for I will bring on Moab

the year^t of her punishment,”

declares the Lord.

⁴⁵“In the shadow of Heshbon

the fugitives stand helpless,

for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,

a blaze from the midst of Sihon;^u

it burns the foreheads of Moab,

the skulls^v of the noisy boasters.

⁴⁶Woe to you, Moab!^w

The people of Chemosh are destroyed;

your sons are taken into exile

and your daughters into captivity.

⁴⁷“Yet I will restore^x the fortunes of Moab

in days to come,”

declares the Lord.

Here ends the judgment on Moab.

A Message About Ammon

49Concerning the Ammonites:^y

This is what the Lord says:

“Has Israel no sons?

Has Israel no heir?

Why then has Molek^az taken possession of Gad?^a

Why do his people live in its towns?

²But the days are coming,”

declares the Lord,

“when I will sound the battle cry^b

against Rabbah^c of the Ammonites;

it will become a mound of ruins,^d

and its surrounding villages will be set on fire.

Then Israel will drive out

those who drove her out,^e”

says the Lord.

³“Wail, Heshbon,^f for Ai^g is destroyed!

Cry out, you inhabitants of Rabbah!

Put on sackcloth^h and mourn;

rush here and there inside the walls,

for Molekⁱ will go into exile,^j

together with his priests and officials.

⁴Why do you boast of your valleys,

boast of your valleys so fruitful?

Unfaithful Daughter Ammon,^k

you trust in your riches^l and say,

‘Who will attack me?’^m

⁵I will bring terror on you

from all those around you,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

“Every one of you will be driven away,

and no one will gather the fugitives.ⁿ

⁶“Yet afterward, I will restore^o the fortunes of the Ammonites,”

declares the Lord.

A Message About Edom

49:9–10pp—Ob 5–6 49:14–16pp—Ob 1–4

⁷Concerning Edom:^p

This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?^q

Has counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom decayed?

⁸Turn and flee, hide in deep caves,^r

you who live in Dedan,^s

for I will bring disaster on Esau

at the time when I punish him.

⁹If grape pickers came to you,

would they not leave a few grapes?

If thieves came during the night,

would they not steal only as much as they wanted?

¹⁰But I will strip Esau bare;

I will uncover his hiding places,^t

so that he cannot conceal himself.

His armed men are destroyed,

also his allies and neighbors,

so there is no one^u to say,

¹¹‘Leave your fatherless children;^v I will keep them alive.

Your widows^w too can depend on me.’ ”

¹²This is what the Lord says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup^x must drink it, why should you go unpunished?^y You will not go unpunished, but must drink it. ¹³I swear^z by myself,” declares the Lord, “that Bozrah^a will become a ruin and a curse,^b an object of horror^b and reproach;^c and all its towns will be in ruins forever.”^d

¹⁴I have heard a message from the Lord;

an envoy was sent to the nations to say,

“Assemble yourselves to attack it!

Rise up for battle!”

¹⁵“Now I will make you small among the nations,

despised by mankind.

¹⁶The terror you inspire

and the pride^e of your heart have deceived you,

you who live in the clefts of the rocks,^f

who occupy the heights of the hill.

Though you build your nest^g as high as the eagle’s,

from there I will bring you down,”

declares the Lord.

¹⁷“Edom will become an object of horror;^h

all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff

because of all its wounds.ⁱ

¹⁸As Sodom^j and Gomorrah^k were overthrown,

along with their…