Jeremiah 49:3

Bible in Basic English

Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests.

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed!Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah,Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament,And rush back and forth inside the walls;For Malcam will go into exileTogether with his priests and his princes.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament, And rush back and forth inside the walls; For Malcam will go into exile Together with his priests and his princes.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Hesbon shall mourne, for Ai shalbe rooted out of the grounde, [saith the Lorde]: the citie of Rabbah shall crye out, and gyrde them selues with sackcloth, they shall mourne and runne about the walles, for their kyng shalbe led away prisoner, yea his priestes and princes with hym.

Darby Translation
Howl, Heshbon! for Ai is laid waste; cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth, lament and run to and fro within the enclosures: for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

New King James Version
"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is plundered! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth! Lament and run to and fro by the walls; For Milcom shall go into captivity With his priests and his princes together.

Literal Translation
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled! Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird yourselves with sackcloth; mourn, and run to and fro in the walls. For their king shall go into exile, his priests and his rulers together.

World English Bible
Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

King James Version (1611)
Howle, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry yee daughters of Rabbah, gird yee with sackcloth: lament and runne to and fro by the hedges: for their king shall goe into captiuitie: and his priests and his princes together.

King James Version
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Hesebon shall mourne, for it shalbe roted out off the grounde, saieth the LORDE. The cities off Rabath shall crie out, and gyrde them selues with sack cloth: they shall mourne, and runne aboute the walles: for their kynge shall be led awaye presoner: yee his preestes and prynces with him.

Amplified Bible
"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai [in Ammon] has been destroyed! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Wrap yourselves with sackcloth and lament (cry out in grief), And rush back and forth inside the enclosures; For Malcam [your powerless god] will go into exile Together with his priests and his princes.

American Standard Version
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run to and fro among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

Revised Standard Version
"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry, O daughters of Rabbah! Gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament, and run to and fro among the hedges! For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his princes.

Update Bible Version
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, gird with sackcloth: lament, and run to and fro among the fences; for Milcom shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

Webster's Bible Translation
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, [and] his priests and his princes together.

New Century Version
"People in the town of Heshbon, cry sadly because the town of Ai is destroyed! Those who live in Rabbah, cry out! Put on your rough cloth to show your sadness, and cry loudly. Run here and there for safety inside the walls, because Molech will be taken captive and his priests and officers with him.

New English Translation
Wail, you people in Heshbon, because Ai in Ammon is destroyed. Cry out in anguish, you people in the villages surrounding Rabbah. Put on sackcloth and cry out in mourning. Run about covered with gashes. For your god Milcom will go into exile along with his priests and officials.

Contemporary English Version
Cry, people of Heshbon; your town will become a pile of rubble. You will turn here and there, but your path will be blocked. Put on sackcloth and mourn, you citizens of Rabbah, because the idol you worship will be taken to a foreign country, along with its priests and temple officials.

Complete Jewish Bible
"Wail, Heshbon, for ‘Ai is doomed! Cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Wear sackcloth and mourn, running here and there among the sheep pens. For Malkam will go into exile, together with his priests and officers.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Howle, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted: crie ye daughters of Rabbah: girde you with sackecloth: mourne and runne to and fro by the hedges: for their King shall goe into captiuitie; and his Priestes, and his princes likewise.

George Lamsa Translation
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed; call for help, O villages of Rabbath, gird you with sackcloth; mourn, be disquieted; for Malcolm shall go into captivity, together with his priests and princes, says the LORD.

Hebrew Names Version
Wail, Heshbon, for `Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malkam shall go into captivity, his Kohanim and his princes together.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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.

New Living Translation
"Cry out, O Heshbon, for the town of Ai is destroyed. Weep, O people of Rabbah! Put on your clothes of mourning. Weep and wail, hiding in the hedges, for your god Molech, with his priests and officials, will be hauled off to distant lands.

New Life Bible
"Cry out, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, O people of Rabbah. Put on clothes made from hair and cry in sorrow. And run this way and that way inside the walls. For Malcam will go to a strange land, together with his religious leaders and his important men.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And let the Lord thy God declare to us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing which we should do.

English Revised Version
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run to and fro among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

Berean Standard Bible
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; run back and forth within your walls, for Molech will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

New Revised Standard
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth, lament, and slash yourselves with whips! For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his attendants.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled Make outcry, ye daughters of Rabbah, Gird you with sackcloth, Lament ye and run to and fro among the fences, - For, Malkam, into captivity, shall go, His priests and his princes, together.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Lexham English Bible
"Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated. Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth. Lament and run back and forth among the walls. For Milcom will go into exile, his priests and his officials together.

Easy-to-Read Version
"People in Heshbon, cry because the town of Ai is destroyed! Women in Rabbah of Ammon, cry! Put on sackcloth and cry. Run to the city for safety, because the enemy will take away the god Milcom, with his priests and officials.

English Standard Version
"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth, lament, and run to and fro among the hedges! For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his officials.

New American Standard Bible
"Wail, Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, daughters of Rabbah, Put on sackcloth and mourn, And move about inside the walls; For Malcam will go into exile Together with his priests and his leaders.

Good News Translation
People of Heshbon, cry out! Ai is destroyed! Women of Rabbah, go into mourning! Put on sackcloth and mourn. Run about in confusion. Your god Molech will be taken into exile, together with his priests and princes.

Christian Standard Bible®
Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated; cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament; run back and forth within your walls, because Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Yelle ye, Esebon, for Hay is distried; crie, ye douytris of Rabath, girde you with heiris, weile ye, and cumpasse bi heggis; for whi Melchon schal be lad in to passyng ouer, the prestis therof and princes therof togidere.

Young's Literal Translation
Howl, Heshbon, for spoiled is Ai, Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth, Lament, and go to and fro by the hedges, For Malcam into captivity doth go, His priests and his princes together.

Contextual Overview

¹ About the children of Ammon. These are the words of the Lord: Has Israel no sons? has he no one to take the heritage? why then has Milcom taken Gad for himself, putting his people in its towns? ² Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord. ³ Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests. ⁴ Why are you lifted up in pride on account of your valleys, your flowing valley, O daughter ever turning away? who puts her faith in her wealth, saying, Who will come against me? ⁵ See, I will send fear on you, says the Lord, the Lord of armies, from those who are round you on every side; you will be forced out, every man straight before him, and there will be no one to get together the wanderers. ⁶ But after these things, I will let the fate of the children of Ammon be changed, says the Lord.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Howl: Jeremiah 48:20, Jeremiah 51:8, Isaiah 13:6, Isaiah 14:31, Isaiah 15:2, Isaiah 16:7, Isaiah 23:1, Isaiah 23:6, James 5:1

gird: Jeremiah 4:8, Jeremiah 6:26, Jeremiah 48:37, Isaiah 32:11, Isaiah 32:12

run: Job 30:3-7, Isaiah 15:2

their king: or, Melcom, Jeremiah 49:1, 1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:33, 2 Kings 23:13, Milcom, Zephaniah 1:5, Malcham

shall go: Jeremiah 46:25, Jeremiah 48:7, Amos 1:15

Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 20:1 - Rabbah Isaiah 3:24 - a girding

Cross-References

Genesis 29:32
And Leah was with child, and gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name Reuben: for she said, The Lord has seen my sorrow; now my husband will have love for me.

Genesis 46:8
And these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt, even Jacob and all his sons: Reuben, Jacob's oldest son;

Genesis 48:18
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the older; put your right hand on his head.

Numbers 1:20
The generations of the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over, who was able to go to war;

Numbers 26:5
Reuben, the first son of Israel: the sons of Reuben by their families: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites:

Deuteronomy 21:17
But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.

1 Chronicles 2:1
These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar and Zebulun;

1 Chronicles 5:1
And the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, (for he was the oldest son, but, because he made his father's bride-bed unclean, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; but he is not to be given the place of the oldest.

1 Chronicles 5:3
The sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

Psalms 78:51
He gave to destruction all the first sons of Egypt; the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Howl, O Heshbon,.... Which was a city of Moab, though it formerly belonged to the Amorites; see Jeremiah 48:2; it was upon the border of Ammon, and near to Ai, now destroyed; and therefore is called upon to howl and lament, because its destruction also was near at hand, and might be expected; hence Kimchi gathers, that the Ammonites were destroyed before the Moabites: but some have thought that Heshbon was a double city, divided by a river, which ran through it; and that that city which was on one side of the river belonged to Moab, and that on the other side to Ammon:

for Ai is spoiled; not that which was near Jericho in the land of Canaan, but a city in the land of Ammon, thought to be the Gaia of Ptolemy; this seems to be the first city in the country of Ammon that Nebuchadnezzar would lay waste:

cry, ye daughters of Rabbah; the royal city before mentioned;

Jeremiah 48:2- :; either the inhabitants of it, particularly the women, especially the younger women, who would be in the utmost distress on hearing the enemy was so near them, and what had befallen Ai; or the villages about Rabbah, as Kimchi interprets it; that is, as the Targum,

"the inhabitants of the villages of Rabbah:''

gird ye with sackcloth; as a token of calamity and mourning for it, as was usual:

lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, understand of the enclosures or fences of villages, like those of gardens, fields, and folds, in distinction from walls of cities, and fortified places; but rather it signifies the hedges in the fields, whither, being drove from their habitations, they would seek unto for shelter, and run about among them for safety, lamenting their unhappy case:

for their king shall go into captivity; be taken and carried captive; either their principal governor; or rather Milcom their god, since it follows:

[and] his priests and his princes together; both such as offered sacrifices to him, and attended on and supported his worship: the same is said of Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, Jeremiah 48:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ai - Not the town on the west of the Jordan Joshua 7:2; a place not mentioned elsewhere. For Ai some read Ar.

Hedges - Fields were not divided by hedges until recent times; the term probably means the walls which enclose the vineyards Numbers 22:24.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 49:3. Run to and fro by the hedges — It is supposed that this may refer to the women making lamentations for the dead, that were in general buried by the walls of their gardens; but others think that it refers to the smaller cities or villages, called here the daughters of Rabbah, the metropolis; the inhabitants of which are exhorted to seek safety somewhere else, as none can be expected from them, now that the enemy is at hand.