Jeremiah 49
49
What the Lord Says about Ammon
1 #
Ez 21.28-32; 25.1-7; Am 1.13-15; Zep 2.8-11. The Lord has this to say about the nation of Ammon:
The people of Israel
have plenty of children
to inherit their lands.
So why have you worshipers
of the god Milcom#49.1 Milcom: The national god of Ammon, probably the same as the god Molech in 32.35.
taken over towns and land
belonging to the tribe of Gad?
2Someday I will send an army
to attack you in Rabbah,
your capital city.
It will be left in ruins,
and the surrounding villages
will lie in ashes.
You took some of Israel's land,
but on that day
Israel will take yours!
3Cry, people of Heshbon;#49.3 Heshbon: See also 48.45; since Heshbon was near the border of Moab and Ammon, it was probably ruled by the country that was stronger at the time.
your town will become
a pile of rubble.#49.3 your town will become a pile of rubble: Or “because the town of Ai has been destroyed”; referring to an Ammonite town named Ai, not the town of that name near Bethel in the land of Israel.
You will turn here and there,
but your path will be blocked.#49.3 You will turn … blocked: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Put on sackcloth#49.3 sackcloth: See the note at 4.8. and mourn,
you citizens of Rabbah,
because the idol you worship#49.3 the idol you worship: Hebrew “Milcom” (see verse 1 and the note there).
will be taken
to a foreign country,
along with its priests
and temple officials.
4You rebellious Ammonites
trust your wealth and ask,
“Who could attack us?”
But I warn you not to boast
when your strength is fading.#49.4 when … fading: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
5I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will send neighboring nations
to strike you with terror.
You will be scattered,
with no one to care
for your refugees.
6Yet someday, I will bring
your people back home.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
What the Lord Says about Edom
7 #
Is 34.5-17; 63.1-6; Ez 25.12-14; 35.1-15; Am 1.11,12; Ob 1-14; Ml 1.2-5. #Ba 3.22,23. The Lord All-Powerful says about Edom:
Wisdom and common sense
have vanished from Teman.#49.7,8 Teman: The name of a town in Edom, sometimes used as the name of the northern half of the nation of Edom; here it probably stands for the whole nation.
8I will send disaster to punish
you descendants of Esau,#49.7,8 Esau: The ancestor of the nation of Edom.
so anyone from Dedan#49.7,8 Dedan: The name of a town in northwest Arabia, also used of the northwest region of Arabia along the Red Sea.
had better turn around
and run back home.#49.7,8 anyone … home: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
9People who harvest grapes
leave some for the poor.
Thieves who break in at night
take only what they want.
10But I will take everything
that belongs to you,
people of Edom,
and I will uncover every place
where you try to hide.
Then you will die,
and so will your children,
relatives, and neighbors.
11But I can be trusted
to care for your orphans
and widows.
12Even those nations that don't deserve to be punished will have to drink from the cup of my anger. So how can you possibly hope to escape? 13I, the Lord, swear in my own name that your city of Bozrah#49.13 Bozrah: The main city and capital of Edom. and all your towns will suffer a horrible fate. They will lie in ruins forever, and people will use the name “Bozrah” as a curse word.
14I have sent a messenger
to command the nations
to prepare for war
against you people of Edom.
15Your nation will be small,
yet hated by other nations.
16Pride tricks you into thinking
that other nations
look at you with fear.#49.16 Pride … fear: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
You live along the cliffs
and high in the mountains
like the eagles,
but I am the Lord,
and I will bring you down.
17People passing by your country
will be shocked and horrified
to see a disaster
18 #
Gn 19.24,25. as bad as the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah
and towns nearby.
The towns of Edom will be empty.
19 #
Ws 12.12. I, the Lord, will attack you
like a lion from the forest,
attacking sheep in a meadow
along the Jordan.
In a moment the flock runs,
and the land is empty.
Who will I choose to attack you?
I will do it myself!
No one can force me to fight
or chase me away.
20Listen to my plans for you,
people of Edom.#49.20 Edom: The Hebrew text also uses the name “Teman” (see the note at 49.7,8).
Your children will be dragged off
and your country destroyed.
21The sounds of your destruction
will reach the Red Sea#49.21 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the northeastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at Exodus 13.18).
and cause the earth to shake.
22An enemy will swoop down
to attack you,
like an eagle spreading its wings
and circling over Bozrah.
Your warriors will be as fearful
as women giving birth.#49.22 as fearful … birth: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
What the Lord Says about Damascus
23 #
Is 17.1-3; Am 1.3-5; Zec 9.1. The Lord says about Damascus:
The towns of Hamath and Arpad#49.23 Hamath and Arpad: Two towns in Syria that had been the capitals of small kingdoms allied with the more powerful kingdom whose capital was Damascus.
have heard your bad news.
They have lost hope,
and worries roll over them
like ocean waves.#49.23 worries … waves: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
24You people of Damascus
have lost your courage,
and in panic you turn to run,
gripped by fear and pain.#49.24 gripped by fear and pain: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
25Once I was pleased
with your famous city.
But now I warn you, “Escape
while you still can!”#49.25 can: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 25.
26Soon, even your best soldiers
will lie dead in your streets.
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
have spoken.
27I will set fire to your city walls
and burn down the fortresses
King Benhadad built.
Nebuchadnezzar and the People of the Desert
28Here is what the Lord says about the Kedar tribe and the desert villages#49.28 desert villages: The Hebrew text has “kingdoms of Hazor,” which probably refers to several kingdoms of desert peoples who were not nomads, but who lived in small villages. that were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar#49.28 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. of Babylonia:
Listen, you people of Kedar
and the other tribes
of the eastern desert.
I have told Nebuchadnezzar
to attack and destroy you.
29His fearsome army
will surround you,
taking your tents and possessions,
your sheep and camels.
30Run and hide,
you people of the desert
who live in villages!#49.30 villages: See the note at 49.28.
Nebuchadnezzar has big plans
for you.
31You have no city walls
and no neighbors to help,
yet you think you're safe—
so I told him to attack.
32Then your camels
and large herds
will be yours no longer.
People of the Arabian Desert,#49.32 People of the Arabian Desert: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
disaster will strike you
from every side,
and you will be scattered
everywhere on earth.
33Only jackals#49.33 jackals: See the note at 9.11. will live
where your villages#49.33 villages: See the note at 49.28. once stood.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
What the Lord Says about Elam
34-35Not long after Zedekiah#49.34,35 Zedekiah: See the note at 1.3. became king of Judah, the Lord told me to say:
People of Elam,#49.34,35 Elam: A nation east of Babylonia, attacked by Nebuchadnezzar about 596 b.c.
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will kill the archers
who make your army strong.
36Enemies will attack
from all directions,
and you will be led captive
to every nation on earth.
37Their armies will crush
and kill you,
and you will face the disaster
that my anger brings.
38Your king and his officials
will die, and I will rule
in their place.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
39But I promise that someday
I will bring your people
back to their land.
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Jeremiah 49: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 49
49
A Prophecy against Ammon
1This is what the Lord says about the people of Ammon:
Doesn’t Israel have any children? Doesn’t it have any heirs?
Why, then, has the god Milcom #49:1 Or “Molech.” taken over the inheritance
of Gad’s descendants?
Why do Milcom’s people live in Gad’s cities?
2That is why the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah,
where the people of Ammon live.
It will become a pile of rubble.
Its villages will be burned down.
Then Israel will take possession of its inheritance, says the Lord.
3Cry loudly, Heshbon, because Ai is destroyed.
Cry, people of Rabbah, put on your sackcloth, and mourn.
Run back and forth between the walls.
Milcom will be taken away into captivity
with its priests and officials.
4Why do you brag about your valleys,
your fertile valleys, you unfaithful people?
You trust your treasures.
You think, “Who would attack me?”
5I am going to bring terror on you from all around,
declares the Almighty Lord of Armies.
Everyone will be scattered.
No one will gather the refugees.
6But afterward, I will return the captives of Ammon, declares the Lord.
A Prophecy against Edom
(Obadiah 1–5)
7This is what the Lord of Armies says about Edom:
Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?
Has wisdom disappeared from your people?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8Turn and run.
Hide in deep caves, inhabitants of Dedan.
When I punish them,
I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau.
9If people come to pick your grapes,
won’t they leave a few grapes behind?
If thieves come during the night,
won’t they steal only until they’ve had enough?
10Yet, I will strip the descendants of Esau.
I will find their hiding places.
They won’t be able to hide.
Their children and relatives will be destroyed.
None of their neighbors will say,
11“Abandon your orphans, and I will keep them alive.
Your widows can trust me.”
12This is what the Lord says: If those who don’t deserve to drink from the cup still drink from it, why should you go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished. You must drink from it. 13I take an oath on myself, declares the Lord, that Bozrah will become a pile of rubble. It will become something horrifying, ridiculed, ruined, and cursed. All its cities will lie in ruins permanently.
14I heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger was sent among the nations to say,
“Assemble, and attack Edom.
Get ready for battle.”
15“Edom, I will make you the smallest of nations
and despised among humanity.
16You have frightened other people.
Your arrogance has deceived you.
You live on rocky cliffs
and occupy the highest places in the hills.
Even though you build your nest as high as an eagle,
I will bring you down from there,” declares the Lord.
17“Then Edom will become something horrible.
Everyone who passes by it will be horrified
and hiss at all its wounds.
18Edom will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighboring cities
when they were destroyed.
No one will live there.
No human will stay there,” says the Lord.
19“I will suddenly chase them from their places
like a lion coming out of the jungle
along the Jordan River into pastureland.
I will appoint over Edom whomever I choose.
Who is like me? Who can challenge me?
Is there any leader who can stand up to me?”
20Listen to the plans that the Lord is making against Edom
and the things he intends to do to those who live in Teman.
He will surely drag away the little ones of the flock.
He will surely destroy the pasture
because of the people who live in Teman.
21The earth will quake at the sound of their downfall.
The sound of their crying will be heard at the Red Sea.
22The enemy will swoop down like eagles
and spread their wings over Bozrah.
On that day Edom’s soldiers will be like women in childbirth.
A Prophecy against Damascus
23This is a message about Damascus.
“Hamath and Arpad are worried because they heard the bad news.
They melt in fear.
They are troubled like a sea that can’t be calmed.
24The people of Damascus are weak.
They turn to flee, but panic grips them.
Anguish and pain grip them like a woman in labor.
25Why isn’t that famous, happy city abandoned?
26That is why its young men will die in the streets,
and its soldiers will be silenced that day,”
declares the Lord of Armies.
27“I will set fire to the walls of Damascus
and burn down Benhadad’s palaces.”
A Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor
28This is about the tribe of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated. This is what the Lord says:
Get ready, attack Kedar,
and loot the people from the east.
29Their tents and their flocks will be taken.
Their tent curtains, utensils, and camels will be carried away.
People will shout to them, “Terror is all around!”
30Run far away! Find a place to hide,
inhabitants of Hazor, declares the Lord.
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has made plans against you
and intends to attack you.
31Get ready! Attack the nation living peacefully and securely,
declares the Lord.
It is a nation with no gates or bars.
Its people live alone.
32Their camels will be taken as prizes.
Their large herds will be taken as loot.
I will scatter to the winds
those who shave the hair on their foreheads.
I will bring disaster on them from every side,
declares the Lord.
33Hazor will be a place where only jackals live.
It will become a permanent wasteland.
No one will live there.
No human will stay there.
A Prophecy against Elam
34Early in the rule of King Zedekiah of Judah, the Lord spoke his word to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam.
35This is what the Lord of Armies says:
I’m going to break the bows of Elam’s archers,
the most important weapon of their strength.
36I’ll bring the four winds
from the four corners of heaven against Elam
and scatter its people in every direction.
There won’t be a nation
where Elam’s refugees won’t go.
37I’ll defeat the people of Elam in the presence of their enemies,
in the presence of those who want to kill them.
I’ll bring disaster with my burning anger, declares the Lord.
I’ll send armies after them until I put an end to them.
38I’ll set my throne in Elam and destroy its king and officials,
declares the Lord.
39But afterward, I’ll return the captives of Elam, declares the Lord.
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