Jeremiah 49:1-22 ▼

1 Concerning the Ammonites (tribal), this is what the LORD {YHWH} says: “Has Israel (he wrestles with God) no sons? Is he without heir? Why then has Milcom (their king) taken possession of Gad (troop)? Why have his people settled in their cities?

2 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD {YHWH}, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah (great) of the Ammonites (tribal). It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel (he wrestles with God) will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.

3 Wail, O Heshbon (stronghold), for Ai (heap of ruins) has been destroyed; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah (great)! Put on sackcloth and mourn; run back and forth within your walls, for Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

4 Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful (your valleys flowing), O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’

5 Behold, I am about to bring terror upon you, declares the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH} of Hosts, from all those around you. You⁺ will each be driven headlong, with no one to regather the fugitives.

6 Yet afterward I will restore the Ammonites (tribal) from captivity (restore the fortunes of the Ammonites), declares the LORD {YHWH}.

7 Concerning Edom (red), this is what the LORD {YHWH} of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman (south)? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?

8 Turn and run! Lie low, O dwellers of Dedan (low country), for I will bring disaster on Esau (hairy) at the time I punish him.

9 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? Were thieves to come in the night, would they not steal only what they wanted?

10 But I will strip Esau (hairy) bare; I will uncover his hiding places, and he will be unable to conceal himself. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors, and he will be no more.

11 Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”

12 For this is what the LORD {YHWH} says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.

13 For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD {YHWH}, that Bozrah (sheepfold / fortress) will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”

14 I have heard a message from the LORD {YHWH}; an envoy has been sent to the nations: “Assemble yourselves to march against her! Rise up for battle!”

15 “For behold, I will make you small among nations, despised among men.

16 The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks (of Sela), O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD {YHWH}.

17 “Edom (red) will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.

18 As Sodom (burning) and Gomorrah (submersion) were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD {YHWH}, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.

19 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan (flowing down) to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”

20 Therefore hear the plans that the LORD {YHWH} has drawn up against Edom (red) and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman (south): Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them (their pasture will be appalled at their fate).

21 At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; their cry will resound to the Red Sea (the Sea of Reeds).

22 Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah (sheepfold / fortress). In that day the hearts of Edom’s (red) mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labor.