The Judgment on the Ammonites
1 Of the descendants of Ammon. the Lord says:
“Does Israel have no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then does Malcam possess Gad
and his people dwell in its cities?
2 Therefore the days have come,” says the Lord,
“when I will cause an alarm of war to be heard
against Rabbah of the descendants of Ammon,
and it will become a desolate heap,
and her villages will be burned down.
Then Israel will possess those who possessed her,” says the Lord.
3 “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
Cry, you daughters of Rabbah!
Clothe yourself in sackcloth.
Lament and run back and forth among the fences,
for Malcam will go into captivity,
his priests and princes together.
4 Why do you boast in the valleys,
your flowing valley, backsliding daughter?
You trusted in her treasures,
saying, ‘Who will come against me?’
5 I will bring terror upon you,”
says the Lord, God of Hosts,
“from all who are around you.
All of you will be driven completely out,
and there will be no one to gather the fugitives together.
6 “But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the Ammonites,”
says the Lord.
The Judgment on Edom
7 Of Edom, the Lord of Hosts says:
“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee! Turn back!
Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan,
for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him.
9 If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
If thieves came by night,
would they not steal until they had enough?
10 But I have made Esau bare,
I have uncovered his secret places,
and he will not be able to hide himself.
His offspring is destroyed,
with his brothers and his neighbors;
and he is no more.
11 Leave your fatherless children.
I will preserve their lives.
Let your widows trust in me.”
12 For the Lord says: “If those who did not deserve to drink of the cup will certainly drink of it, are you going to go altogether unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but you will surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by myself,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become a ruin, a disgrace, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.”
14 I have heard news from the Lord,
and an ambassador is sent among the nations,
saying,
“Gather yourselves together!
Come against her!
Rise up to the battle!”
15 “For I have made you small among the nations
and despised among men.
16 As for your terror,
the pride of your heart has deceived you,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you should make your nest as high as the eagle,
I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
17 “Edom will become a ruin.
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
and will scoff at all its plagues.
18 Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
and its neighboring cities,” says the Lord.
“No man will dwell there,
nor will any son of man live in it.
19 “He will come up like a lion from the pride,
from the thickets of the Jordan,
for I will suddenly make them run away from it.
Whoever is chosen,
I will appoint him over it.
For who is like me?
Who will appoint my time?
Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?”
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord,
that he has taken against Edom,
and his plans, that he has made against the inhabitants of Teman.
Surely they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely he will make their settlements desolate.
21 The earth trembles at the sound of their fall,
there is a cry, the sound which is heard in the Red Sea.
22 He will come up and fly like the eagle,
and spread out his wings against Bozrah.
The heart of the mighty men of Edom on that day
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
The Judgment on Damascus
23 Of Damascus:
“Hamath has been put to shame, and Arpad,
for they have heard bad news.
They have lost all courage.
There is sorrow on the sea,
which cannot be quieted.
24 Damascus has grown feeble.
She turns herself to flee,
and trembling has seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
like a woman in labor.
25 How is the city of praise not forsaken,
the city of my joy?
26 Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
and all the men of war
will be brought to silence in that day,” says the Lord of Hosts.
27 “I will start a fire in the wall of Damascus,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
The Judgment on Kedar and Hazor
28 Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. The Lord says:
“Arise, go up to Kedar
and destroy the descendants of the east.
29 They will take their tents and their flocks.
They will carry away for themselves their curtains,
all their vessels, and their camels,
and they will cry to them, ‘Terror on every side!’
30 Flee!
Wander far off!
Dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor,” says the Lord.
“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has taken counsel against you,
and has conceived a plan against you.
31 Arise! Go up to a nation that is at ease,
that dwells without care,” says the Lord,
“that has neither gates nor bars,
that dwells alone.
32 Their camels will become plunder
and the multitude of their livestock will be spoil.
I will scatter them with the wind,
those who have the corners of their beards cut off,
and I will bring their calamity to every side of them,” says the Lord.
33 Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals,
a desolation forever.
No man will dwell there,
nor will any son of man live in it.”
The Judgment on Elam
34 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35 “The Lord of Hosts says:
‘I will break the bow of Elam,
the chief of their might.
36 I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the heavens
and will scatter them toward all those winds.
There will be no nation
to which the outcasts of Elam have not come.
37 I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies
and before those who seek their life.
I will bring disaster on them with my fierce anger,’ says the Lord;
‘I will send the sword after them,
until I have consumed them.
38 I will set my throne in Elam
and will destroy from there, king and leaders,’ says the Lord.
39 ‘But it will happen in the latter days
that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says the Lord.”