Jeremiah 49:1–22

¹Concerning the Ammonites.

Thus says the Lord:

“Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad,

and his people settled in its cities?

²Therefore, behold, the days are coming,

says the Lord,

when I will cause the battle cry to be heard

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.

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

Cry, O daughters of Rabbah!

Gird yourselves with sackcloth,

lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!

For Milcom shall go into exile,

with his priests and his princes.

⁴Why do you boast of your valleys,

O faithless daughter,

who trusted in her treasures, saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

⁵Behold, I will bring terror upon you,

says the Lord GOD of hosts,

from all who are round about you,

and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,

with none to gather the fugitives.

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

⁷Concerning Edom.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Is wisdom no more in Teman?

Has counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom vanished?

⁸Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,

O 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,

would they not destroy only enough for themselves?

¹⁰But I have stripped Esau bare,

I have uncovered his hiding places,

and he is not able to conceal himself.

His children are destroyed, and his brothers,

and his neighbors; and he is no more.

¹¹Leave your fatherless children, I will keep them alive;

and let your widows trust in me.”

¹²For thus says the Lord: “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. ¹³For I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse; and all her cities 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 behold, I will make you small among the nations,

despised among men.

¹⁶The horror you inspire has deceived you,

and the pride of your heart,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,ⁿ

who hold the height of the hill.

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

I will bring you down from there,

says the Lord.

¹⁷“Edom shall become a horror; every one who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. ¹⁸As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbor cities were overthrown, says the Lord, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. ¹⁹Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a strong sheepfold, I will suddenly make them^o run away from her; and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? ²⁰Therefore hear the plan which the Lord has made against Edom and the purposes which he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ²¹At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. ²²Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle, and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her pangs.”