Jeremiah 49-50

English Standard Version

“Has Israel no sons?
    Has he no heir?
Why then has ^(B)Milcom^{[a] (C)}dispossessed Gad,
    and his people settled in its cities?
² Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
    declares the Lord,
when I will cause ^(D)the battle cry to be heard
    against ^(E)Rabbah of the Ammonites;
it shall become a desolate ^(F)mound,
    and its villages shall be burned with fire;
then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,
    says the Lord.

³ “Wail, O ^(G)Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
    Cry out, O daughters of ^(H)Rabbah!
^(I)Put on sackcloth,
    lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!
For ^(J)Milcom shall go into exile,
    ^(K)with his priests and his officials.
⁴ Why do you boast of your valleys,^{[b]
    (L)}O faithless daughter,
^(M)who trusted in her treasures, saying,
    ‘Who will come against me?’
⁵ Behold, ^(N)I will bring terror upon you,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
    from all who are around you,
and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,
    with none to gather the fugitives.

^(Q)“Is wisdom no more in ^(R)Teman?
    ^(S)Has counsel perished from the prudent?
    ^(T)Has their wisdom vanished?
^8 (U)Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of ^(V)Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
    ^(W)the time when I punish him.
^9 (X)If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave ^(Y)gleanings?
^(Z)If thieves came by night,
    would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
^10 (AA)But I have stripped Esau bare;
    ^(AB)I have uncovered his hiding places,
    and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
    and his neighbors; and ^(AC)he is no more.
^11 (AD)Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
    ^(AE)and let your widows trust in me.”

^14 (AK)I have heard a message from the Lord,
    and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
^(AL)“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
    and rise up for battle!
¹⁵ For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised among mankind.
¹⁶ The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,^[c]
    who hold the height of the hill.
Though you ^(AM)make your nest as high as the eagle's,
    I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.

^(BI)“Hamath and ^(BJ)Arpad are confounded,
    for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
    ^(BK)they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
^24 (BL)Damascus has become feeble, ^(BM)she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
    as ^(BN)of a woman in labor.
²⁵ How is ^(BO)the famous city not forsaken,
    the city of my joy?
^26 (BP)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
    and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the Lord of hosts.
²⁷ And ^(BQ)I will kindle a fire in the wall of ^(BR)Damascus,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of ^(BS)Ben-hadad.”

Thus says the Lord:
^(BU)“Rise up, advance against ^(BV)Kedar!
    Destroy ^(BW)the people of the east!
^29 (BX)Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,
    their ^(BY)curtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
    and men shall cry to them: ^(BZ)‘Terror on every side!’
^30 (CA)Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of Hazor!
declares the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
    has made a plan against you
    and formed a purpose against you.

^31 (CB)“Rise up, advance against a nation ^(CC)at ease,
    ^(CD)that dwells securely,
declares the Lord,
^(CE)that has no gates or bars,
    that dwells alone.
^32 (CF)Their camels shall become plunder,
    their herds of livestock a spoil.
^(CG)I will scatter to every wind
    ^(CH)those who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity
    from every side of them,
declares the Lord.
³³ Hazor shall become ^(CI)a haunt of jackals,
    an everlasting waste;
^(CJ)no man shall dwell there;
    ^(CK)no man shall sojourn in her.”

² “Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    set up a banner and proclaim,
    conceal it not, and say:
^(DA)‘Babylon is taken,
    ^(DB)Bel is put to shame,
    Merodach is dismayed.
^(DC)Her images are put to shame,
    her idols are dismayed.’

^11 (DX)“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
    and neigh like stallions,
¹² your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
    ^(DY)a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
^13 (DZ)Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
^(EA)everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
    ^(EB)and hiss because of all her wounds.
^14 (EC)Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
    ^(ED)all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
    ^(EE)for she has sinned against the Lord.
^15 (EF)Raise a shout against her all around;
    she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    ^(EG)her walls are thrown down.
For ^(EH)this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    ^(EI)do to her as she has done.
¹⁶ Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
^(EJ)because of the sword of the oppressor,
    ^(EK)every one shall turn to his own people,
    and every one shall flee to his own land.

²¹ “Go up against the land of Merathaim,^[e]
    and against the inhabitants of Pekod.^[f]
Kill, ^(FA)and devote them to destruction,^[g]
declares the Lord,
    and do all that I have commanded you.
^22 (FB)The noise of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction!
^23 (FC)How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
^(FD)How Babylon ^(FE)has become
    a horror among the nations!
^24 (FF)I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
    and ^(FG)you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
    because you opposed the Lord.
²⁵ The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out ^(FH)the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
²⁶ Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
^(FI)pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
    let nothing be left of her.
²⁷ Kill all ^(FJ)her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    ^(FK)the time of their punishment.

³¹ “Behold, I am against you, O ^(FT)proud one,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
^(FU)for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
^32 (FV)The proud one shall stumble and fall,
    with none to raise him up,
^(FW)and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour all that is around him.

³⁵ “A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against ^(GC)her officials and her ^(GD)wise men!
³⁶ A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(GE)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷ A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(GF)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(GG)they may become women!
^(GH)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
^38 (GI)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(GJ)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

^41 (GN)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴² They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³ “The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
    and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
    pain as of a woman in labor.