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49. Message About Ammon, Damascus

¹ Concerning the Ammonites:

This is what the LORD says:

   “Has Israel no sons?
   Has Israel no heir?
Why then has Molek Or their king; also in verse 3 taken possession of Gad?
   Why do his people live in its towns?
² But the days are coming,”
   declares the LORD,
“when I will sound the battle cry
   against Rabbah of the Ammonites;
it will become a mound of ruins,
   and its surrounding villages will be set on fire.
Then Israel will drive out
   those who drove her out,” says the LORD.
³ “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed!
   Cry out, you inhabitants of Rabbah!
Put on sackcloth and mourn;
   rush here and there inside the walls,
for Molek will go into exile,
   together with his priests and officials.
⁴ Why do you boast of your valleys,
   boast of your valleys so fruitful?
Unfaithful Daughter Ammon,
   you trust in your riches and say,
   ‘Who will attack me?’
⁵ I will bring terror on you
   from all those around you,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
“Every one of you will be driven away,
   and no one will gather the fugitives.

⁶ “Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,” declares the LORD.

A Message About Edom

⁷ Concerning Edom:

This is what the LORD Almighty says:

   “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
   Has counsel perished from the prudent?
   Has their wisdom decayed?
⁸ Turn and flee, hide in deep caves,
   you who live in Dedan,
for I will bring disaster on Esau
   at the time when I punish him.
⁹ If grape pickers came to you,
   would they not leave a few grapes?
If thieves came during the night,
   would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
¹⁰ But I will strip Esau bare;
   I will uncover his hiding places,
   so that he cannot conceal himself.
His armed men are destroyed,
   also his allies and neighbors,
   so there is no one to say,
¹¹ ‘Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive.
   Your widows too can depend on me.’”

¹² This is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it. ¹³ I swear by myself,” declares the LORD, “that Bozrah will become a ruin and a curse, That is, its name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that it is cursed. an object of horror and reproach; and all its towns will be in ruins forever.”

    ¹⁴ I have heard a message from the LORD;
   an envoy was sent to the nations to say,
“Assemble yourselves to attack it!
   Rise up for battle!”

    ¹⁵ “Now I will make you small among the nations,
   despised by mankind.
¹⁶ The terror you inspire
   and the pride of your heart have deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks,
   who occupy the heights of the hill.
Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s,
   from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
¹⁷ “Edom will become an object of horror;
   all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff
   because of all its wounds.
¹⁸ As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown,
   along with their neighboring towns,” says the LORD,
“so no one will live there;
   no people will dwell in it.

    ¹⁹ “Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets
   to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Edom from its land in an instant.
   Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?
   And what shepherd can stand against me?”

    ²⁰ Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Edom,
   what he has purposed against those who live in Teman:
The young of the flock will be dragged away;
   their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
²¹ At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble;
   their cry will resound to the Red Sea. Or the Sea of Reeds
²² Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down,
   spreading its wings over Bozrah.
In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors
   will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

A Message About Damascus

²³ Concerning Damascus:

   “Hamath and Arpad are dismayed,
   for they have heard bad news.
They are disheartened,
   troubled like Hebrew on or by the restless sea.
²⁴ Damascus has become feeble,
   she has turned to flee
   and panic has gripped her;
anguish and pain have seized her,
   pain like that of a woman in labor.
²⁵ Why has the city of renown not been abandoned,
   the town in which I delight?
²⁶ Surely, her young men will fall in the streets;
   all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD Almighty.
²⁷ “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;
   it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.”

A Message About Kedar and Hazor

²⁸ Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked:

This is what the LORD says:

   “Arise, and attack Kedar
   and destroy the people of the East.
²⁹ Their tents and their flocks will be taken;
   their shelters will be carried off
   with all their goods and camels.
People will shout to them,
   ‘Terror on every side!’

    ³⁰ “Flee quickly away!
   Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,” declares the LORD.
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you;
   he has devised a plan against you.

    ³¹ “Arise and attack a nation at ease,
   which lives in confidence,” declares the LORD,
“a nation that has neither gates nor bars;
   its people live far from danger.
³² Their camels will become plunder,
   and their large herds will be spoils of war.
I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places Or who clip the hair by their foreheads
   and will bring disaster on them from every side,” declares the LORD.
³³ “Hazor will become a haunt of jackals,
   a desolate place forever.
No one will live there;
   no people will dwell in it.”

A Message About Elam

³⁴ This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah:

³⁵ This is what the LORD Almighty says:

   “See, I will break the bow of Elam,
   the mainstay of their might.
³⁶ I will bring against Elam the four winds
   from the four quarters of heaven;
I will scatter them to the four winds,
   and there will not be a nation
   where Elam’s exiles do not go.
³⁷ I will shatter Elam before their foes,
   before those who want to kill them;
I will bring disaster on them,
   even my fierce anger,” declares the LORD.
“I will pursue them with the sword
   until I have made an end of them.
³⁸ I will set my throne in Elam
   and destroy her king and officials,” declares the LORD.

³⁹ “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam
in days to come,” declares the LORD.

Some render the first words thus, “Thine idol hath deceived thee;” and others, “Thy folly hath deceived thee.” The verb has, indeed, this meaning, though there is a different reading, for some put a point over the right side of the letter, and others on the left. But the most suitable meaning is thus conveyed, Deceived thee has thy terror, the pride of thy heart Those who render the first word “idol,” consider that superstition is referred to, that the false confidence which the Edomites placed in their idols had deceived them. But this seems to be a forced explanation. Why others have rendered the word “folly,” I know not. The word properly means terror. The verb פלף, pelets, means to terrify, and from this the noun is derived. And when the word is taken for an idol, it is so metaphorically, because idols terrify men, or because a terrible end awaits their worshippers. But I retain the proper meaning of the word. At the same time terror here is to be taken actively, because the Idumeans were a terror to other nations, and were thus blinded with pride on account of their conceit as to their power.

And the following words are explanatory, the pride of thy heart; for they who despise others fill themselves with empty pride, and thus elevate their own hearts. As then the Idumeans had gained for themselves the repute of being a warlike people, the terror entertained for them inflated their own hearts with pride: but the Prophet says, that they were deceived, as they arrogated to themselves too much power. At the same time he continues the subject which I have stated, as though he had said, “How comes it, that as God has designed thee to be contemptible, thou takest to thyself such authority among the nations? Thou fightest against nature, for thou hast hitherto in vain terrified thy neighbors: hence it is, that thou art swollen with pride; but it is a mere delusion; thou art greatly mistaken, and deceivest thyself in thus thinking of thy strength, since thy condition ought, on the contrary, to make thee humble.” We now see how well the whole passage runs, and how aptly the words agree together. He then says that it was a foolish confidence, by which the people of Edom, whom God had made contemptible, were deceived.

He now adds, by way of concession, Thou who dwellest in the fissures of rocks, and occupiest the heights of mountains In these words the Prophet concedes something to the Idumeans; but he afterwards adds, that the fortresses, by which they thought themselves to be protected, would come to nothing; though thou raisest high thy nest as the eagle, thence will I, says God, draw thee down We hence see that the Prophet concedes to the Idumeans some reason for boasting on account of their mountains, because they presented on every side a defense against enemies; and yet he shews that all this would be useless to them; for he says, though thou raisest high thy nest as the eagle, that is, though thou ascendest, as they commonly say, above the very clouds, thence will I draw thee down

Now this passage teaches us first, that all who trust in their own earthly defences deceive themselves; and, secondly, that all who arrogate to themselves more than what is just and right, contend, as it were, against God, and that it cannot, therefore, be otherwise but that God will lay them prostrate. We are then taught by this doctrine to cultivate humility. Humility has its roots fixed deeply within; so that the state of those who willingly submit themselves, becomes firm and permanent; for the root, which appears not on the surface, sustains the tree. So also that humility, which is not known by men, is our real and solid prop and support. Whosoever takes the wing and flies, and seeks, through his own presumption, to raise up himself, provokes God as it were designedly: and here the Prophet shews what end awaits all those who thus raise themselves on high, seeking to set their nest on a summit like the eagle; for God will draw them down and lay them prostrate, as he did to the Idumeans. It now follows —