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¹ Of the children of Ammon. Thus saith the LORD: Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth Malcam possess 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 heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess them that did possess him, saith the LORD.³ 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.⁴ Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?⁵ Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord, the LORD 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 again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

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 will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him.⁹ If grapegatherers 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 preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.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 tidings from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.¹⁵ For, behold, I have made thee small among the nations, and despised among men.¹⁶ As for thy terribleness, the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, 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 he 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 dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein. ¹⁹ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of Jordan against the strong habitation: but I will suddenly make him run away from her; and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over her: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that will stand before me?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 they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. ²¹ The earth trembleth 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 fly as the eagle, 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.

²³ Of Damascus. Hamath is ashamed, and Arpad; for they have heard evil tidings, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.²⁴ Damascus is waxed feeble, she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.²⁵ How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?²⁶ Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, 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.

²⁸ Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote: Thus saith the LORD: Arise ye, go up to 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 cry unto them, Terror on every side.³⁰ Flee ye, wander 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 unto a nation that is at ease, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD; which have neither gates nor bars, which 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 of their hair 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 dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.

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 upon Elam will I bring 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 outcasts 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 latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.