Jeremiah

Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?

1About the people of Ammon, the LORD says this: Does Israel have no sons? Is there no one to inherit the land? Then why has their king taken over the land of Gad? Why do his people live in those towns?

NoteThe Hebrew word here can be read as "their king" or as Milcom, the name of the god the Ammonites worshiped. Many modern translations use Milcom here and in verse 3.

2Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.

2So listen. Days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make the noise of war heard in Rabbah, the chief city of Ammon. It will become a pile of ruins, and the villages around it will be burned. Then Israel will drive out the ones who drove Israel out, says the LORD.

3Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.

3Wail, Heshbon, for the town of Ai is destroyed. Cry out, you villages around Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn. Run back and forth inside your walls. Their king will be carried away, along with his priests and his officials.

NoteSackcloth was rough, scratchy cloth. People wore it to show deep grief.

4Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?

4Why do you brag about your valleys, your rich valley, you unfaithful daughter? You trusted in your riches and said, "Who would dare come against me?"

5Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.

5Look, I will bring terror on you from everyone around you, says the Lord GOD of Heaven's Armies. Each of you will be driven straight out, and no one will gather up those who run away.

6And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

6But later I will bring the people of Ammon back home from captivity, says the LORD.

7Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

7About Edom, the LORD of Heaven's Armies says this: Is there no wisdom left in Teman? Have wise people run out of good advice? Has their wisdom rotted away?

8Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.

8Turn and run! Hide in deep places, you who live in Dedan. I will bring disaster on Esau, whose family became Edom, at the time I punish him.

9If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.

9When grape pickers come to a vineyard, don't they leave a few grapes behind? When thieves come at night, they take only as much as they want.

10But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

10But I will strip Esau bare. I will uncover his hiding places, so he cannot hide himself. His children, his relatives, and his neighbors will be destroyed, and he will be gone.

11Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

11Leave your children who have lost their fathers; I will keep them alive. Let your widows trust in me.

12For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

12The LORD says this: Some who did not deserve to drink the cup have had to drink it. So can you go free? No. You will not go free. You must drink it too.

NoteThe cup is a picture used all through Jeremiah. Drinking it means going through the punishment God sends.

13For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.

13I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah will become an empty ruin, a shame, a wasteland, and a word people use when they curse. All its towns will lie in ruins forever.

14I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

14I have heard a message from the LORD. A messenger has been sent to the nations: "Gather together! March against her! Get up and fight!"

15For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.

15Look, I will make you small among the nations, and people will look down on you.

16Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

16You frightened others, and that fooled you, and so did your proud heart. You live in cracks in the rocks and hold the high hilltops. Even if you build your nest as high as an eagle's, I will bring you down, says the LORD.

17Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.

17Edom will become a ruin. Everyone who passes by will be shocked and will scoff at all its wounds.

18As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

18It will be like when Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns near them were destroyed, says the LORD. No one will live there. No person will stay there.

19Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

19Look, an enemy will come up like a lion out of the thick brush along the Jordan River, into rich pastureland. In a moment I will chase Edom off her land. Who is the chosen leader I will put in charge? Who is like me? Who can challenge me? What shepherd can stand against me?

20Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.

20So hear the plan the LORD has made against Edom, and what he has decided for the people of Teman. Even the smallest of the flock will be dragged away. Their pastureland will be left empty because of them.

21The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.

21The earth will shake at the sound of their fall. Their cry will be heard as far away as the Red Sea.

22Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

22Look! An enemy will soar like an eagle and swoop down, spreading his wings over Bozrah. That day the hearts of Edom's strongest soldiers will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

23Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.

23About Damascus: The cities of Hamath and Arpad are ashamed, because they have heard bad news. They are stirred up like a restless sea that cannot be calmed.

24Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

24Damascus has grown weak. She turns to run away. Panic has grabbed her. Pain and sorrow hold her, like a woman giving birth.

25How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!

25How is it that the famous city is not spared, the town that once brought joy?

26Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.

26So her young men will fall in her streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced that day, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.

27And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.

27I will set fire to the walls of Damascus, and it will burn up the strong palaces of Ben-hadad.

28Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.

28About Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked, the LORD says this: Get up and march against Kedar! Destroy the people of the east!

29Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side.

29They will take their tents and their flocks. They will take their tent cloth, all their goods, and their camels. People will shout at them, "Terror is all around!"

30Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.

30Run! Get far away! Hide in deep places, you who live in Hazor, says the LORD. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has made a plan against you and decided what he will do.

31Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.

31Get up and attack a nation that feels safe and lives without worry, says the LORD. It has no gates and no bars. Its people live alone.

32And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD.

32Their camels will be taken as loot, and their large herds as spoil. I will scatter to every wind those who cut their hair short at the sides. I will bring trouble on them from every direction, says the LORD.

33And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.

33Hazor will become a home for wild dogs, empty forever. No one will live there. No person will stay there.

NoteThe KJV says "dragons." The Hebrew word means jackals, wild dogs that live in ruined and empty places.

34The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

34This is the message the LORD gave to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam. It came early in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah.

35Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

35The LORD of Heaven's Armies says this: I am going to break the bow of Elam, the main source of their strength.

36And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

36I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the sky. I will scatter its people to all those winds. There will be no nation where they do not end up.

37For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:

37I will break Elam in front of their enemies, in front of those who want to kill them. I will bring trouble on them, my burning anger, says the LORD. I will send the sword after them until they are finished.

38And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.

38I will set my throne in Elam and destroy its king and its officials, says the LORD.

39But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

39But in the days to come, I will bring Elam's people back home from captivity, says the LORD.