The judgment against Moab ends here.
Judgment Against Ammon
49:1 The LORD spoke about the
Ammonites.1
He said:
“Do you think there aren’t any people of the nation of Israel left?
Do you think there aren’t any of them left to reinherit their land?
Is that why you people who worship the god Milcom2
have taken possession of the territory of Gad and live in his cities?3
49:2 Because you did that,
I, the LORD, affirm that4
a time is coming
when I will make Rabbah the capital city of Ammon
hear the sound of the battle cry.
It will become a mound covered with ruins.5
Its villages will be burned to the ground.6
Then Israel will take back its land
from those who took their land from them.
I, the Lord, affirm it.7
49:3 Wail, you people in Heshbon, because Ai in Ammon is destroyed.
Cry out in anguish, you people in the villages surrounding8
Rabbah.
Put on sackcloth and cry out in mourning.
Run about covered with gashes.9
For your god Milcom will go into exile
along with his priest and officials.10
49:4 Why do you brag about your great power?
Your power is ebbing away,11
you rebellious people of Ammon,12
who trust in your riches and say,
‘Who would dare to attack us?’
49:5 I will bring terror on you from every side,”
says the Lord GOD who rules over all.13
“You will be scattered in every direction.14
And no one will gather the fugitives back together.
49:6 Yet in days to come
I will reverse Ammon’s ill fortune.”15
says the LORD.16
Judgment Against Edom
49:7 The LORD who rules over all17
spoke about Edom.18
He said:
“Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman?19
Can Edom’s counselors not give her any good advice?20
Has all of their wisdom turned bad?21
49:8 Turn and run, take up refuge in remote places,22
you people who live in Dedan.23
For I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau.
I have decided it is time for me to punish them.24
49:9 If grape pickers came to pick your grapes,
wouldn’t they leave a few grapes behind?25
If robbers came at night,
wouldn’t they pillage only what they needed?26
49:10 But I will strip everything away from Esau’s descendants.
I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide.
Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed.
Not one of them will be left.
49:11 Leave your orphans behind and I’ll keep them alive.
Your widows too can depend on me.”27
49:12 For the LORD says, “If even those who
did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath have to drink from it, do
you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished but will certainly
drink from the cup of my wrath.28
49:13 For I solemnly swear,”29
says the LORD, “that Bozrah30
will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and of ridicule,
and an example to be used in curses.31
And all the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.”
49:14 I said,32
“I have heard a message from the LORD.
A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,
‘Gather your armies and march out against her.
Prepare to do battle with her.’”33
49:15 The LORD says to Edom,34
“I will certainly make you small among nations.
I will make you despised by all mankind.
49:16 The terror you inspire in others35
and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you.
You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks
and occupy the highest places in the hills.36
But even if you made your home where the eagles nest,
I would bring you down from there,”
says the LORD.
49:17 “Edom will become an object of horror.
All who pass by it will be filled with horror
and will hiss out their scorn
because of all the disasters that have happened to it.37
49:18 Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns that were around them.
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it,”
says the LORD.
49:19 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth
along the Jordan38
scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it.39
So too I will chase the Edomites off of their land.40
Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose.41
For there is no one like me. And there is no one who can call me to account.42
And there is no43
ruler44
that can stand up against me.
49:20 So listen to what I, the LORD, have planned against Edom,
what I intend to do to45
the people who live in Teman.46
Their little ones will be dragged off.
I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.47
49:21 The people of the earth will quake when they
hear of their downfall.48
Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba.49
49:22 “Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings
a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah.
At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearful
as a woman in labor.”50
Judgment Against Damascus
49:23 The LORD spoke about Damascus.51
He said:52
“The people of Hamath and Arpad53
will be dismayed
because they have heard bad news.
Their courage will melt away because of worry.
Their hearts won’t be able to rest. 54
49:24 The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to run.
Panic will grip them.
Pain and anguish will seize them
like a woman in labor.
49:25 How deserted will that once famous city55
be ,
that city that was once filled with56
joy!57
49:26 For her young men will fall in her city squares.
All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”
says the LORD who rules over all.58
49:27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus
and it will burn up the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”59
Judgment Against Kedar and Hazor
49:28 The LORD spoke about Kedar60
and the kingdoms of Hazor61
that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon conquered. He said:
“Army of Babylon,62
go and attack Kedar.
Lay waste those who live in the eastern desert.63
49:29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken away.
Their tent curtains, equipment, and camels will be carried off.
People will shout64
to them,
‘Terror is all around you!’”65
49:30 The LORD says,66
“Run away quickly, you who live in Hazor.
Take up refuge in remote places.67
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.
He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.”68
49:31 The LORD says,69
‘Army of Babylon,70
go and attack
a nation that lives in peace and security.
They have no gates or walls to protect them.71
They live all alone.
49:32 Their camels will be taken as plunder.
Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.
I will scatter to the four winds
those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples.72
I will bring disaster against them
from every direction,” says the LORD.73
49:33 “Hazor will become a permanent wasteland,
a place where only jackals live.74
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it.”75
Judgment Against Elam
49:34 Early in the reign of Zedekiah76
king of Judah, the LORD spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam.77
49:35 The LORD who rules over all said,
“I will kill all the archers of Elam
who are the chief source of her military might.78
49:36 I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction
like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven.
I will scatter the people of Edom to the four winds.
There won’t be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go.79
49:37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,
who are seeking to kill them.
I will vent my fierce anger
and bring disaster upon them,”80
says the LORD.81
“I will send armies chasing after them82
until I have completely destroyed them.
49:38 I will establish my sovereignty over Elam.83
I will destroy their king and their leaders,”84
says the LORD.85
49:39 Yet in days to come
I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.”86
says the LORD.87