Jeremiah 49:1–22

Judgment on the Ammonites

⁴⁹Concerning the Ammonites.

Thus says the Lord:

Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

Why then has Milcom^z dispossessed Gad

and his people settled in its towns?^*

²Therefore, the time is surely coming,

says the Lord,

when I will sound the battle alarm

against Rabbah of the Ammonites;

it shall become a desolate mound,

and its villages shall be burned with fire;

then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,

says the Lord.^*

³Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!

Cry out, O daughters^a of Rabbah!

Put on sackcloth,

lament, and slash yourselves with whips!^b

For Milcom^c shall go into exile,

with his priests and his attendants.^*

⁴Why do you boast in your strength?

Your strength is ebbing,

O faithless daughter.

Who trusted in her treasures, saying,^d

“Who will attack me?”^*

⁵I am going to bring terror upon you,

says the Lord God of hosts,

from all your neighbors,

and you will be scattered, each headlong,

with no one to gather the fugitives.^*

⁶But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, says the Lord.^*

Judgment on Edom

⁷Concerning Edom.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?

Has counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom vanished?^*

⁸Flee; turn back; get down low,

inhabitants of Dedan!

For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,

the time when I punish him.^*

⁹If grape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave gleanings?

If thieves came by night,

even they would pillage only what they wanted.^*

¹⁰But as for me, I have stripped Esau bare;

I have uncovered his hiding places,

and he is not able to conceal himself.

His offspring are destroyed, his kinsfolk

and his neighbors, and he is no more.^*

¹¹Leave your orphans; I will keep them alive,

and let your widows trust in me.^*

¹²For thus says the Lord: If those who do not deserve to drink the cup still have to drink it, shall you be the one to go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished; you must drink it.^{* 13}For by myself I have sworn, says the Lord, that Bozrah shall become an object of horror and ridicule, a waste, and an object of cursing, and all her towns shall be perpetual wastes.^*

¹⁴I have heard tidings from the Lord,

and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

“Gather yourselves together and come against her,

and rise up for battle!”^*

¹⁵For I will make you least among the nations,

despised by humankind.

¹⁶The terror you inspire

and the pride of your heart have deceived you,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,^e

who hold the height of the hill.

Although you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,

from there I will bring you down,

says the Lord.^*

¹⁷Edom shall become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters.^{* 18}As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were overthrown, says the Lord, no one shall live there, nor shall anyone settle in it.^{* 19}Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan to a perennial pasture, I will suddenly chase Edom^f away from it, and I will appoint over it whomever I choose.^g For who is like me? Who can summon me? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?^{* 20}Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate.^{* 21}At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea.^{h* 22}Look, he shall mount up and swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom on that day shall be like the heart of a woman in labor.^*