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Judgment on the Ammonites

Concerning the Ammonites.

Thus says the L ord:

Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad,

and his people settled in its towns?

Therefore, the time is surely coming,

says the L ord,

when I will sound the battle alarm

against Rabbah of the Ammonites;

it shall become a desolate mound,

and its villages shall be burned with fire;

then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,

says the L ord.

Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!

Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!

Put on sackcloth,

lament, and slash yourselves with whips!

For Milcom shall go into exile,

with his priests and his attendants.

Why do you boast in your strength?

Your strength is ebbing,

O faithless daughter.

You trusted in your treasures, saying,

“Who will attack me?”

I am going to bring terror upon you,

says the Lord G od of hosts,

from all your neighbors,

and you will be scattered, each headlong,

with no one to gather the fugitives.

⁶ But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, says the L ord.

Judgment on Edom

⁷ Concerning Edom.

Thus says the L ord of hosts:

Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?

Has counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom vanished?

Flee, turn back, get down low,

inhabitants of Dedan!

For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,

the time when I punish him.

If grape-gatherers came to you,

would they not leave gleanings?

If thieves came by night,

even they would pillage only what they wanted.

But as for me, I have stripped Esau bare,

I have uncovered his hiding places,

and he is not able to conceal himself.

His offspring are destroyed, his kinsfolk

and his neighbors; and he is no more.

Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive;

and let your widows trust in me.

¹² For thus says the L ord: If those who do not deserve to drink the cup still have to drink it, shall you be the one to go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished; you must drink it. ¹³For by myself I have sworn, says the L ord, that Bozrah shall become an object of horror and ridicule, a waste, and an object of cursing; and all her towns shall be perpetual wastes.

I have heard tidings from the L ord,

and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

“Gather yourselves together and come against her,

and rise up for battle!”

For I will make you least among the nations,

despised by humankind.

The terror you inspire

and the pride of your heart have deceived you,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,

who hold the height of the hill.

Although you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,

from there I will bring you down,

says the L ord.

¹⁷ Edom shall become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. ¹⁸As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were overthrown, says the L ord, no one shall live there, nor shall anyone settle in it. ¹⁹Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly chase Edom away from it; and I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who can summon me? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me? ²⁰Therefore hear the plan that the L ord has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ²¹At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. ²²Look, he shall mount up and swoop down like an eagle, and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom in that day shall be like the heart of a woman in labor.

Judgment on Damascus

²³ Concerning Damascus.

Hamath and Arpad are confounded,

for they have heard bad news;

they melt in fear, they are troubled like the sea

that cannot be quiet.

Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee,

and panic seized her;

anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,

as of a woman in labor.

How the famous city is forsaken,

the joyful town!

Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,

and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,

says the L ord of hosts.

And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus,

and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

²⁸ Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon defeated.

Thus says the L ord:

Rise up, advance against Kedar!

Destroy the people of the east!

Take their tents and their flocks,

their curtains and all their goods;

carry off their camels for yourselves,

and a cry shall go up: “Terror is all around!”

Flee, wander far away, hide in deep places,

O inhabitants of Hazor!

says the L ord.

For King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon

has made a plan against you

and formed a purpose against you.

Rise up, advance against a nation at ease,

that lives secure,

says the L ord,

that has no gates or bars,

that lives alone.

Their camels shall become booty,

their herds of cattle a spoil.

I will scatter to every wind

those who have shaven temples,

and I will bring calamity

against them from every side,

says the L ord.

Hazor shall become a lair of jackals,

an everlasting waste;

no one shall live there,

nor shall anyone settle in it.

Judgment on Elam

³⁴ The word of the L ord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah.

³⁵ Thus says the L ord of hosts: I am going to break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might; ³⁶and I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven; and I will scatter them to all these winds, and there shall be no nation to which the exiles from Elam shall not come. ³⁷I will terrify Elam before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, says the L ord. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them; ³⁸and I will set my throne in Elam, and destroy their king and officials, says the L ord.

³⁹ But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, says the L ord.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Some think “my” to be redundant, and therefore render it “the city of joy;” ⁴³⁴³     So the versions, (except the Sept.) and also the Targ., the י iod being regarded as paragogic. So Grotius. — Ed. but they seem to be induced by no good reason; for they think it absurd that it should be called a city of joy to the Prophet, since he ought not to have regarded Damascus with any love or kindness. But the prophets, we know, do not always speak according to their own feelings, but assume the persons of others. We might then fitly read the words as they are, the city of my joy! Besides, Jeremiah very cuttingly exults over Damascus, when he thus expresses his wonder at its destruction: “How can this be,” he says, “that the city of praise, that is, a celebrated city, and the city of my joy, that is, a spectacle so noble as to cause joy to all, — how can it be that this city should not be left, that is, should not be spared?” For by “left” he does not mean forsaken by its inhabitants, or reduced to solitude; for by “left” he means untouched or safe. ⁴⁴⁴⁴     The Syr. rendered it “spared;” the Vulg. has left out the negative not. There are two difficulties, the verb עזב is not used in the sense of sparing, though Gataker labours to shew this; then the connexion: the next verse begins with a “therefore.” Take the verb here in its usual sense, and then “therefore” will have its force. He asks, Why was not this city, under the circumstances previously mentioned, forsaken or abandoned, notwithstanding its being a celebrated and a joyous city? But as it was not forsaken, “therefore,” he says, “her young men shall fall in her streets,” etc.
   Venema’s view is different; his version is, —
   Why not? forsaken has been the city of praise, The city of my joy.
   That is, Why should not Damascus be compelled to flee, since Jerusalem had been forsaken, the city of praise and of his joy. “Therefore,” in this sense, refers to the slaughter of those who would not flee. — Ed.

But we must ever bear in mind what we have often stated, that the prophets, when they thus speak in astonishment, do not adopt an elevated style as rhetoricians do, to show their eloquence, but have always a regard to what is profitable. It was necessary powerfully to impress the minds of men, when the Prophet spoke of the ruin of so great a city. Then this astonishment includes what they call an anticipation; for it obviated a doubt which might have prevented credit from being given to this prophecy. This might have immediately occurred to every one, “How can it be that Damascus is to perish?” Then the Prophet anticipates this, and shews, that though this was contrary to the judgment commonly formed, yet, as the Lord had so decreed, the destruction of that city was certain. We now then perceive the design of the Prophet. It afterwards follows, —

⁴³ So the versions, (except the Sept.) and also the Targ., the י iod being regarded as paragogic. So Grotius. — Ed.

⁴⁴ The Syr. rendered it “spared;” the Vulg. has left out the negative not. There are two difficulties, the verb עזב is not used in the sense of sparing, though Gataker labours to shew this; then the connexion: the next verse begins with a “therefore.” Take the verb here in its usual sense, and then “therefore” will have its force. He asks, Why was not this city, under the circumstances previously mentioned, forsaken or abandoned, notwithstanding its being a celebrated and a joyous city? But as it was not forsaken, “therefore,” he says, “her young men shall fall in her streets,” etc. Venema’s view is different; his version is, — Why not? forsaken has been the city of praise, The city of my joy. That is, Why should not Damascus be compelled to flee, since Jerusalem had been forsaken, the city of praise and of his joy. “Therefore,” in this sense, refers to the slaughter of those who would not flee. — Ed.