1Concerning the sons of Ammon, thus says Yahweh: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad, and his people settled in its cities?
2Therefore behold, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate mound, and its daughter-villages shall be burned with fire, and Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him, says Yahweh.
3Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is devastated! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament, and rush back and forth among the sheepfolds, for Milcom shall go into exile, his priests and his officials together.
4Why do you boast in the valleys, in your flowing valley, O faithless daughter, who trusts in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’
5Behold, I am bringing terror upon you, declares the Lord Yahweh of hosts, from all who surround you; and you shall be driven out, each man straight ahead, with no one to gather the fugitives.
6But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the sons of Ammon, declares Yahweh.
7Concerning Edom, thus says Yahweh of hosts: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom rotted away?
8Flee, turn back, go deep to dwell, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I have brought Esau’s calamity upon him, the time when I punish him.
9If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, would they destroy only as much as they wanted?
10But I myself have stripped Esau bare, I have uncovered his hiding places, and he cannot conceal himself. His offspring is devastated, along with his brothers and his neighbors, and he is no more.
11Leave your orphans; I will keep them alive, and let your widows trust in me.
12For thus says Yahweh: Behold, those who did not deserve to drink the cup must surely drink it; and are you the one to go wholly unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.
13For I have sworn by myself, declares Yahweh, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse, and all its cities shall become perpetual ruins.
14I have heard a report from Yahweh, and an envoy has been sent among the nations: ‘Gather yourselves together and come against her, and rise up for battle!’
15For behold, I have made you small among the nations, despised among men.
16Your terror has deceived you, the arrogance of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down, declares Yahweh.
17And Edom shall become a horror; everyone who passes by her shall be appalled and shall hiss at all her wounds.
18As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were overthrown, says Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.
19Behold, like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, so in a moment I will drive them away from it; and who is the chosen one whom I will appoint over it? For who is like me? Who will summon me? And what shepherd can stand before me?
20Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh that he has purposed against Edom, and his plans that he has planned against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away; surely he shall lay their pasture waste over them.
21At the sound of their downfall the earth quakes; the cry — its sound is heard at the Red Sea.
22Behold, like an eagle he shall mount up and swoop, and spread his wings against Bozrah; and the heart of Edom’s warriors on that day shall be like the heart of a woman in labor.
23Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard bad news; they melt in fear. There is anxiety in the sea; it cannot be quiet.
24Damascus has grown feeble; she has turned to flee, and panic has seized her; anguish and pangs have gripped her, like a woman in labor.
25How the city of praise is not forsaken, the town of my joy!
26Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all the men of war shall be silenced on that day, declares Yahweh of hosts.
27And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down, thus says Yahweh: Rise up, go up against Kedar, and destroy the sons of the east!
29Their tents and their flocks shall be taken, their tent-curtains and all their goods; their camels they shall carry off for themselves, and men shall cry out over them, ‘Terror on every side!’
30Flee, wander far away, go deep to dwell, O inhabitants of Hazor, declares Yahweh! For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you and devised a plan against you.
31“Rise up, go up against a nation at ease, that dwells securely,” declares Yahweh, “which has no gates and no bars; they dwell alone.
32Their camels will become plunder, and their throngs of livestock spoil. I will scatter to every wind those who clip the corners of their hair, and from every side I will bring their calamity,” declares Yahweh.
33Hazor will become a lair of jackals, a desolation forever; no one will dwell there, and no son of man will sojourn in it.”
34What came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
35Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “Behold, I am about to break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might.
36And I will bring against Elam four winds from the four ends of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds; and there will not be a nation to which the outcasts of Elam do not come.
37And I will shatter Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life, and I will bring upon them disaster, my burning anger,” declares Yahweh. “And I will send the sword after them until I have finished them off.
38And I will set my throne in Elam, and I will destroy from there king and princes,” declares Yahweh.
39“But it will come to pass in the latter days that I will restore the fortunes of Elam,” declares Yahweh.
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