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¹ CONCERNING the Ammonites, thus says the LORD: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has Malcolm inherited Gad, and why do his people dwell in its cities?² Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbath of the Ammonites; and it shall become a desolate heap, and its little villages shall be burned with fire; then Israel shall be heir to those who were his heirs, says the LORD.³ 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.⁴ Why do you glory in your valleys and trust in your broad plains, O beloved daughter who trusts in her treasures, saying, Who shall come against me?⁵ Behold, I will bring a terror upon you from all your borders, says the LORD of hosts; and I will drive the people in all directions; and none shall gather up the wanderers.⁶ But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, says the LORD.

⁷ Concerning Edom, thus says the LORD of hosts: There is no more wisdom in Teman; the counsel is perished from the prudent; their wisdom is taken away.⁸ Flee, turn back, dwell in deep crevices, O inhabitants of Deran! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time of his punishment, says the LORD.⁹ If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, they would destroy till they have enough.¹⁰ But I have searched out Esau, I have uncovered his secret places, and he tried to hide himself but could not; his descendants are driven away, and his brethren and his neighbors are no more.¹¹ Leave your fatherless children; I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.¹² For thus says the LORD: Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and though you consider yourselves blameless, you shall not go unpunished; but you shall surely drink of the cup.¹³ For I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a desolation, a reproach, and a curse; and all its cities shall become perpetual wastes.¹⁴ I have heard a rumor from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent to the nations, saying, Arise, let us go up against her to the battle.¹⁵ For, lo, I will make you small among the nations and despised among men.¹⁶ Your wickedness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart. O you that dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill; who say in your hearts, Who can bring us down to the ground? though you make your nest among the stars, and though you make your nest as high as the eagles, I will bring you down from there, says the LORD.¹⁷ And Edom shall become a desolation; every one who passes by it shall be astonished and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.¹⁸ It shall be overthrown just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any human being live in it.¹⁹ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the sheepfold of Atan; but I will suddenly make them run away from her; and I will charge young warriors against her; for who is like me? And who shall testify against me? And who is that leader who can prevail against me?²⁰ Therefore, hear the counsel that the LORD has devised against Edom, and his purposes that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely even the least of the flock they shall shear; and the enemy shall make their folds desolate over them.²¹ The earth is moved at the sound of their fall, and the noise of their wailing is heard from the Red sea.²² Behold, he shall come up and fly mightily like an eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah; and the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be in that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

²³ Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard evil tidings; they are dismayed, they are disturbed like the sea, they cannot find rest.²⁴ Damascus is weakened, and she turns to flee; trembling has seized her; anguish and pangs have taken her like a woman in travail.²⁵ How is the glorious city ruined, the city of joy!²⁶ Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be silenced, in that day, says the LORD of hosts.²⁷ And I will kindle a fire in the streets of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Bar-hadad.

²⁸ Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote; thus says the LORD: Arise, go up against Kedar and plunder the men of the east.²⁹ Their tents and their flocks shall the enemy take away; they shall carry away their curtains and all their vessels and their camels; and the oppressor shall shout against them on every side.³⁰ Flee, get you far away, dwell in deep places, O inhabitants of Hazor, says the LORD; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you and has conceived a purpose against you, saying,³¹ Arise, get you up against a wealthy nation that dwells in tranquillity, says the LORD, that has neither gates nor bars, that dwells alone.³² And their camels shall be booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter to all the winds those whose beards are clipped; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says the LORD.³³ And Hazor shall be a dwelling place for jackals and a desolation for ever; there shall no one abide there, nor any human live in it.

³⁴ Concerning Elam, the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he might prophesy concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,³⁵ Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.³⁶ And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter the people to all these winds; and there shall be no nation whither the dispersed ones of Elam shall not come.³⁷ And I will cause Elam to be defeated before their enemies and before those who seek their lives; and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, says the LORD; and I will send the sword after them till I have consumed them;³⁸ I will set my throne in Elam, and I will destroy from thence the kings and the princes, says the LORD.³⁹ But it shall come to pass in the latter days that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says the LORD.