Chapter 49

  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 ?  

  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.  

  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.  

  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?  

  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.  

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

  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.  

  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.  

  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.  

  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.  

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

  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.  

  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.  

  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.  

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

  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.  

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

  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.  

  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 m? and who shall abide me? and who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance?  

  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.  

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

  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.  

  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.  

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

  How have they forsaken the city of renown, the city of joy !  

  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.  

  And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, rind it shall devour the strong holds of Benadad.  

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

  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.  

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

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

  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 I all their confines, saith the Lord.  

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

  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:  

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

  And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the fear 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.  

  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 will send the sword after them, till I consume them.  

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

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