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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 take possession of 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 mound, and her daughters shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel dispossess them that did dispossess him, saith the LORD.³ 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.⁴ Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that didst trust in thy treasures: 'Who shall come unto me?'⁵ Behold, I will bring a terror upon thee, saith the Lord GOD 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 back 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 do bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall punish him.⁹ If grape-gatherers 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 rear them, 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 a message from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations: 'Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.'¹⁵ For, behold, I make thee small among the nations, and despised among men.¹⁶ Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, even the pride of thy heart, 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 be 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 abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.¹⁹ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make him run away from it, and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it; for who is like Me? and who will appoint Me a time? and who is that 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 the least of the flock shall drag them away, surely their habitation shall be appalled at them.²¹ The earth quaketh 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 swoop down as the vulture, 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 trouble in the sea; it cannot be quiet.²⁴ Damascus is waxed feeble, she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her; anguish and pangs have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.²⁵ 'How is the city of praise left unrepaired, the city of my joy?'²⁶ Therefore her young men shall fall in her broad places, 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 against 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 proclaim against them a terror on every side.³⁰ Flee ye, flit 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 against a nation that is at ease, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD; that have neither gates nor bars, that 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 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 abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell 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 I will bring against Elam 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 dispersed 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 end of days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.