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The Judgment on the Ammonites

¹ Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Is he without heir? Why then has Molech^(a) taken possession of Gad and his people settled in their cities?² Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.³ 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.⁴ Why do you boast of your valleys, your valleys so fruitful^(a), O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’⁵ Behold, I am about to bring terror upon you, declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, from all those around you. You will each be driven headlong, with no one to regather the fugitives.⁶ Yet afterward I will restore the captivity of the Ammonites, declares the LORD.

The Judgment on Edom

⁷ Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?⁸ Turn and run! Lie low, O residents of Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.⁹ If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? Were thieves to come in the night, would they not steal only what they wanted?¹⁰ But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, and he will be unable to conceal himself. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors, and he will be no more.¹¹ Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”¹² For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.¹³ For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”¹⁴ I have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy has been sent among the nations to say, “Assemble yourselves to come against her! Rise up for battle!”¹⁵ “For behold, I will make you small among the nations, despised among men.¹⁶ The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks^(a), O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.¹⁷ “Edom will become an object of horror. Everyone who passes by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds.¹⁸ As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will reside there; no man will dwell there.¹⁹ Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. Indeed, I will chase Edom from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? And what shepherd can stand against Me?”²⁰ Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has made against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: The little ones of the flock will surely be dragged away, and their pasture will be made desolate because of them.²¹ At the sound of their fall, the earth will quake; their cry will resound to the Red Sea^(a).²² Look! An eagle will soar, then swoop down and spread its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

The Judgment on Damascus

²³ Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea^(a); their anxiety cannot be calmed.²⁴ Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee. Panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her like a woman in labor.²⁵ How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town that brings Me joy?²⁶ For her young men will fall in her streets; all the warriors will be silenced in that day.” declares the LORD of Hosts.²⁷ “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-hadad.”

The Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

²⁸ Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated, this is what the LORD says: “Rise up, advance against Kedar, and destroy the people of the east!²⁹ They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’³⁰ Run! Escape quickly! Lie low, O residents of Hazor, declares the LORD, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has drawn up a plan against you; he has devised a strategy against you.³¹ Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, one that dwells securely, declares the LORD. They have no gates or bars; they live alone.³² Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoil. I will scatter to the wind in every direction those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them from all sides, declares the LORD.³³ Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, a desolation forever. No one will reside there; no man will dwell there.”

The Judgment on Elam

³⁴ This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.³⁵ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will shatter Elam’s bow, the mainstay of their might.³⁶ I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam’s exiles will not go.³⁷ So I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives. I will bring disaster upon them, even My fierce anger, declares the LORD. I will send out the sword after them until I finish them off.³⁸ I will set My throne in Elam, and destroy its king and officials, declares the LORD.³⁹ Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity^(a),” declares the LORD.