Judgment on Ammon

¹aConcerning the Ammonites.

Thus says the Lord:

“Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

Why then has bMilcom1 cdispossessed Gad,

and his people settled in its cities?

²Therefore, behold, the days are coming,

declares the Lord,

when I will cause dthe battle cry to be heard

against eRabbah of the Ammonites;

it shall become a desolate fmound,

and its villages shall be burned with fire;

then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,

says the Lord.

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

Cry out, O daughters of eRabbah!

hPut on sackcloth,

lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!

For iMilcom shall go into exile,

jwith his priests and his officials.

⁴Why do you boast of your valleys,2

kO faithless daughter,

lwho trusted in her treasures, saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

⁵Behold, mI will bring terror upon you,

declares the Lord God of hosts,

from all who are around you,

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

with none to gather the fugitives.

⁶“But nafterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord.”

Judgment on Edom

⁷Concerning oEdom.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

p“Is wisdom no more in pTeman?

qHas counsel perished from the prudent?

qHas their wisdom vanished?

⁸rFlee, turn back, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of sDedan!

For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,

tthe time when I punish him.

⁹uIf grape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave vgleanings?

uIf thieves came by night,

would they not destroy only enough for themselves?

¹⁰wBut I have stripped Esau bare;

uI have uncovered his hiding places,

and he is not able to conceal himself.

His children are destroyed, and his brothers,

and his neighbors; and xhe is no more.

¹¹yLeave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;

yand let your widows trust in me.”

¹²For thus says the Lord: z“If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, awill you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. ¹³bFor I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that cBozrah shall become da horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”

¹⁴eI have heard a message from the Lord,

and an envoy has been sent among the nations:

f“Gather yourselves together and come against her,

and rise up for battle!

¹⁵For behold, I will make you small among the nations,

despised among mankind.

¹⁶The horror you inspire has deceived you,

and the pride of your heart,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,3

who hold the height of the hill.

Though you gmake your nest as high as the eagle's,

I will bring you down from there,

declares the Lord.

¹⁷h“Edom shall become a horror. iEveryone who passes by it will be horrified iand will hiss because of all its disasters. ¹⁸jAs when Sodom and Gomorrah and their kneighboring cities were overthrown, says the Lord, lno man shall dwell there, lno man shall sojourn in her. ¹⁹mBehold, nlike a lion coming up from othe jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him4 run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. pFor who is like me? qWho will summon me? rWhat shepherd can stand before me? ²⁰Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against sEdom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of tTeman: uEven 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 vthe earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. ²²Behold, wone shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against xBozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart yof a woman in her birth pains.”

Judgment on Damascus

²³Concerning zDamascus:

a“Hamath and bArpad are confounded,

for they have heard bad news;

they melt in fear,

cthey are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.

²⁴zDamascus has become feeble, dshe turned to flee,

and panic seized her;

anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,

as yof a woman in labor.

²⁵How is ethe famous city not forsaken,

the city of my joy?

²⁶fTherefore her young men shall fall in her squares,

and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,

declares the Lord of hosts.

²⁷And gI will kindle a fire in the wall of zDamascus,

and it shall devour the strongholds of hBen-hadad.”

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

²⁸Concerning iKedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.

Thus says the Lord:

j“Rise up, advance against iKedar!

Destroy kthe people of the east!

²⁹lTheir tents and their flocks shall be taken,

their lcurtains and all their goods;

their camels shall be led away from them,

and men shall cry to them: m‘Terror on every side!’

³⁰nFlee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Hazor!

declares the Lord.

For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

has made a plan against you

and formed a purpose against you.

³¹j“Rise up, advance against a nation oat ease,

pthat dwells securely,

declares the Lord,

pthat has no gates or bars,

that dwells alone.

³²qTheir camels shall become plunder,

their herds of livestock a spoil.

rI will scatter to every wind

sthose who cut the corners of their hair,

and I will bring their calamity

from every side of them,

declares the Lord.

³³Hazor shall become ta haunt of jackals,

an everlasting waste;

uno man shall dwell there;

uno man shall sojourn in her.”

Judgment on Elam

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning vElam, in the beginning of the reign of wZedekiah king of Judah.

³⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will break xthe bow of vElam, the mainstay of their might. ³⁶And I will bring upon vElam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of vElam shall not come. ³⁷I will yterrify vElam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, zmy fierce anger, declares the Lord. aI will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, ³⁸and I will set my throne in vElam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.

³⁹“But in the latter days bI will restore the fortunes of vElam, declares the Lord.”