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: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 49
49
A Message Concerning Ammon
1Concerning the Ammonites:#Literally “sons of Ammon” Thus says Yahweh,
“Are there no sons for Israel?
Or is there no heir for him?
Why has Milcom taken possession of Gad,
and his people dwelled in its towns?
2Therefore#Literally “To thus” look, days are coming,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“and I will sound against Rabbah, the Ammonites,#Literally “sons of Ammon”
the alarm of the war,
and it will become as a mound of desolation,
and its daughters will burn in the fire.
Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors,” says Yahweh.
3“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated.
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth.
Lament and run back and forth among the walls.
For Milcom will go into exile,
his priests and his officials together.
4Why do you boast in your valleys?
Your valleys#Hebrew “valley” are ebbing.
O unfaithful daughter, who trusted in her treasures,
who said, ‘Who will come against me?’
5Look, I am going to bring dread on you,”
declares#Literally “a declaration of” Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“from all your surrounding neighbors.
And you will be scattered,
each one before it,#Literally “to the face of it”
and there is no one who gathers the fugitives.#Hebrew “fugitive”
6Yet afterward#Literally “after thus” I will restore
the fortunes#Hebrew “fortune” of the Ammonites,”#Literally “sons of Ammon” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
A Message Concerning Edom
7Concerning Edom, thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel become lost from those who understand?
Is their wisdom rotting?
8Flee! Turn back! Get down low!#Literally “make deep to dwell”
O inhabitants of Dedan.
For I will bring upon him the disaster of Esau
at the time when I will punish him.
9If grape-gatherers come to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves in the night,
they destroy only enough for them.#Literally “their enough”
10But I have stripped Esau bare.
I have uncovered his hiding places,
and he is not able to hide himself.
His offspring are devastated, along with#Literally “and” his brothers,
and his neighbors, and he is no more.#Literally “and not he”
11Leave your orphans. I will let them#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation live.
And your widows, let them trust in me.”
12For thus says Yahweh, “Look, those who are not condemned#Literally “who there is not their justice” to drink the cup must certainly drink it.#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation And are you the one who will go entirely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must certainly drink it.#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation 13For I have sworn by myself,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become as a horror, as a disgrace, as a waste, and as a curse. And all her towns will be everlasting sites of ruins.”#Literally “sites of ruins of eternity”
14I have heard a message from Yahweh,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations.
“Gather and come against her,
and rise for the battle.”
15“For look, I will make you small among the nations,
despised by the humankind.
16Your terror has deceived you,
the pride of your heart,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
you who seize the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest high like the eagle,
from there I will bring you down,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
17“And Edom will become as a horror,
everyone who passes by it#Literally “all who passes by it” will be appalled,
and will hiss because of all its blows.
18As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighbors,” says Yahweh,
“no one#Literally “not a man” will live there,
and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in it.
19Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan
to a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream.#Literally “a pasture of everflowing”
So I will chase him away hurriedly#Literally “I will do in an instant I will chase him away” from it.
And whoever is chosen I will appoint over it.
For who is like me, and who can summon me?
And who is this, the shepherd who can stand before me?”#Literally “to the face of me”
20Therefore#Literally “To thus” hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Edom,
and his plans that he has planned against the inhabitants of Teman.
Surely#Literally “If not” they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely#Literally “If not” he will cause to be desolated over them
their grazing place.
21The earth will quake from the sound of their falling.
A cry of distress! Their voice will be heard at the Red Sea.#Hebrew “Sea of Reeds”
22Look, like an eagle he will go up and he will swoop down,
and he will spread out his wings against Bozrah.
And the heart of the warriors of Edom will be in that day
like the heart of a woman who is in labor.
A Message Concerning Damascus
23Concerning Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad are ashamed,
for they have heard bad news;
they melt.
There is concern in the sea.
It is not able to keep quiet.
24Damascus has grown slack.
She has turned away to flee and panic.
Anxiety has seized her,
and labor pains have grasped her,
like a woman in labor.
25How the city of praise has not been abandoned!
The city of my joy!
26Therefore#Literally “To thus” her young men will fall in her public squares,
and all the soldiers#Literally “the men of the battle” will perish in that day,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh of hosts.
27“And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus,
and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Ben-hadad.”
A Message Concerning Kedar and the Kingdoms of Hazor
28Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated. Thus says Yahweh:
“Rise up, go up against Kedar
and destroy the people#Or “sons” of the east.
29They will take their tents, and their flocks,
their tent curtains, and all their equipment,
and their camels they will carry away for themselves,
and they will call to them, ‘Terror is from all around.’
30Flee! Wander far away! Get down low!#Literally “Make deep to dwell”
O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
“For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has planned a plan against you.
And he has schemed#Or “planned” a scheme#Or “plan” against you.
31Rise up, go up against a nation which is at ease,
living securely,”#Literally “with confidence” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
“There are no gates and there are no bars#Hebrew “bar” for them,
they dwell alone.
32And their camels will become as plunder,
and the multitude of their livestock as spoil.
And I will scatter to every wind those who are trimmed to the side,
and from every side#Literally “all his sides” I will bring their disaster,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
33“And Hazor will become as a lair of jackals,
a waste forever;
no one will live there,
and no son of humankind will dwell as an alien in it.”
A Message Concerning Elam
34The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, saying,#Literally “to say” 35“Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
‘Look, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
the first and best of their might.
36And I will bring to Elam four winds,
from the four corners of heaven,
and I will scatter them to all these winds,
and there will not be a nation
where the scattered people of Elam will not go.
37So I will shatter Elam before#Literally “to the face of” their enemies,
and before#Literally “to the face of” the seekers of their life.
And I will bring disaster upon them,
my burning anger,#Literally “the blaze of my nose”’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
‘And I will send after them the sword
until I have destroyed them.
38And I will set my throne in Elam
and I will destroy from there king and officials,’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
39‘And then#Literally “And it will happen” in the last of the days
I will restore the fortunes#Hebrew “fortune” of Elam,’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.”
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