Jeremiah 49:7–22

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 neighboring towns,”

says the Lord,

“so no one will live there;

no people will dwell^l in it.

¹⁹“Like a lion^m coming up from Jordan’s thicketsⁿ

to a rich pastureland,

I will chase Edom from its land in an instant.

Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?

Who is like^o me and who can challenge me?^p

And what shepherd^q can stand against me?”

²⁰Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Edom,^r

what he has purposed^s against those who live in Teman:^t

The young of the flock^u will be dragged away;

their pasture will be appalled at their fate.^v

²¹At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble;^w

their cry^x will resound to the Red Sea.^c

²²Look! An eagle will soar and swoop^y down,

spreading its wings over Bozrah.^z

In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors^a

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