Jeremiah 49:1–6

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.^*