Jeremias Chapter 49

The like desolation of Ammon, of Idumea, of the Syrians, of the Agarenes, and of the Elamites.

49:1. Against the children of Ammon. Thus saith the Lord: Hath Israel no sons? or hath he no heir? Why then hath Melchom inherited Gad: and his people dwelt in his cities?

Melchom. . .The idol of the Ammonites.

49:2. Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will cause the noise of war to be heard in Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and it shall be destroyed into a heap, and her daughters shall be burnt with fire, and Israel shall possess them that have possessed him, saith the Lord.

49:3. Howl, O Hesebon, for Hai is wasted. Cry, ye daughters of Rabbath, gird yourselves with haircloth: mourn and go about by the hedges: for Melchom shall be carried into captivity, his priests, and his princes together.

49:4. Why gloriest thou in the valleys? thy valley hath flowed away, O delicate daughter, that hast trusted in thy treasures, and hast said: Who shall come to me?

49:5. Behold I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, from all that are round about thee: and you shall be scattered every one out of one another's sight, neither shall there be any to gather together them that flee.

49:6. And afterwards I will cause the captives of the children of Ammon to return, saith the Lord.

49:7. Against Edom. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Theman? counsel is perished from her children: their wisdom is become unprofitable.

49:8. Flee and turn your backs, go down into the deep hole, ye inhabitants of Dedan: for I have brought the destruction of Esau upon him, the time of his visitation.

49:9. If grapegatherers had come to thee, would they not have left a bunch? if thieves in the night, they would have taken what was enough for them.

49:10. But I have made Esau bare, I have revealed his secrets, and he cannot be hid: his seed is laid waste, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he shall not be.

49:11. Leave thy fatherless children: I will make them live: and thy widows shall hope in me.

49:12. For thus saith the Lord: Behold they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup, shall certainly drink: and shalt thou come off as innocent? thou shalt not come off as innocent, but drinking thou shalt drink.

49:13. For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bosra shall become a desolation, and a reproach, and a desert, and a curse: and all her cities shall be everlasting wastes.

49:14. I have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent to the nations: Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and let us rise up to battle.

49:15. For behold I have made thee a little one among the nations, despicable among men.

49:16. Thy arrogancy hath deceived thee, and the pride of thy heart: O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, and endeavourest to lay hold on the height of the hill: but though thou shouldst make thy nest as high as an eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord.

49:17. And Edom shall be desolate: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues.

49:18. As Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha, and the neighbours thereof, saith the Lord: there shall not a man dwell there, and there shall no son of man inhabit it.

49:19. Behold one shall come up as a lion from the swelling of the Jordan, against the strong and beautiful: for I will make him run suddenly upon her: and who shall be the chosen one whom I may appoint over her? for who is like to me? and who shall abide me? and who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance?

49:20. Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he hath taken concerning Edom: and his thoughts which he hath thought concerning the inhabitants of Theman: surely the little ones of the flock shall cast them down, of a truth they shall destroy them with their habitation.

49:21. The earth is moved at the noise of their fall: the cry of their voice is heard in the Red Sea.

49:22. Behold he shall come up as an eagle, and fly: and he shall spread his wings over Bosra: and in that day the heart of the valiant ones of Edom shall be as the heart of a woman in labour.

49:23. Against Damascus. Emath is confounded and Arphad: for they have heard very bad tidings, they are troubled as in the sea: through care they could not rest.

49:24. Damascus is undone, she is put to flight, trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in labour.

49:25. How have they forsaken the city of renown, the city of joy!

49:26. Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets: and all the men of war shall be silent in that day, saith the Lord of hosts.

49:27. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strong holds of Benadad.

49:28. Against Cedar and against the kingdoms of Asor, which Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon destroyed. Thus saith the Lord: Arise, and go ye up to Cedar, and waste the children of the east.

Cedar and Asor. . .Were parts of Arabia; which with Moab, Ammon, Edom, etc., were all brought under the yoke of Nabuchodonosor.

49:29. They shall take their tents, and their flocks: and shall carry off for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels: and they shall call fear upon them round about.

49:30. Flee ye, get away speedily, sit in deep holes, you that inhabit Asor, saith the Lord: for Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived designs against you.

49:31. Arise, and go up to a nation that is at ease, and that dwelleth securely, saith the Lord: they have neither gates, nor bars: they dwell alone.

49:32. And their camels shall be for a spoil and the multitude of their cattle for a booty, and I will scatter into every wind them that have their hair cut round, and I will bring destruction upon them from all their confines, saith the Lord.

49:33. And Asor shall be a habitation for dragons, desolate for ever: no man shall abide there, nor son of man inhabit it.

49:34. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremias the prophet against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Sedecias king of Juda, saying:

Elam. . .A part of Persia.

49:35. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will break the bow of Elam, and their chief strength.

49:36. And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven: and I will scatter them into all these winds: and there shall be no nation, to which the fugitives of Elam shall not come.

49:37. And I will cause Elam to be afraid before their enemies, and in the sight of them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, my fierce wrath, saith the Lord: and I will send the sword after them, till I consume them.

49:38. And I will set my throne in Elam, and destroy kings and princes from thence, saith the Lord.

49:39. But in the latter days I will cause the captives of Elam, to return, saith the Lord.