1 Of the children of Ammon. Thus saith the LORD: Hath Israel no sons? Hath he no heir? Why then doth Malcam take possession of Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?
2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate mound, and her daughters shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel dispossess them that did dispossess him, saith the LORD.
3 Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is undone; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro among the folds; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
4 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that didst trust in thy treasures: 'Who shall come unto me?'
5 Behold, I will bring a terror upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all that are round about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather up him that wandereth.
6 But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD. {P}7 Of Edom. Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I do bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall punish him.
9 If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had enough?
10 But 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.
11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will rear them, and let thy widows trust in Me. {S}12 For thus saith the LORD: Behold, they to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink.
13 For I have sworn by Myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
14 I have heard a message from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations: 'Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.'
15 For, behold, I make thee small among the nations, and despised among men.
16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, even the pride of thy 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.
17 And Edom shall become an astonishment; every one that passeth by it shall be astonished and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make him run away from it, and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it; for who is like Me? and who will appoint Me a time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before Me? {S}20 Therefore hear ye 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 drag them away, surely their habitation shall be appalled at them.
21 The earth quaketh at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is heard in the Red Sea.
22 Behold, he shall come up and swoop down as the vulture, and spread out his wings against Bozrah; and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. {P}23 Of Damascus. Hamath is ashamed, and Arpad; for they have heard evil tidings, they are melted away; there is trouble in the sea; it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her; anguish and pangs have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.
25 'How is the city of praise left unrepaired, the city of my joy?'
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her broad places, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. {P}28 Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote. Thus saith the LORD: Arise ye, go up against Kedar, and spoil the children of the east.
29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take, they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall proclaim against them a terror on every side.
30 Flee ye, flit 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.
31 Arise, get you up against a nation that is at ease, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.
32 And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; and I will scatter unto all winds them that have the corners polled; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, saith the LORD.
33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation for ever; no man shall abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. {S}34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
36 And I will bring against Elam 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 dispersed of Elam shall not come.
37 And 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;
38 And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence king and princes, saith the LORD.
39 But it shall come to pass in the end of days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD. {P}