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¹ Of the sons of Ammon. Thus says Yahweh: Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does Milcom possess Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?² Therefore, look, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those that possessed him, says Yahweh.³ 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.⁴ Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, [saying], Who shall come to me?⁵ Look, I will bring a fear on you, says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, from all that are round about you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.⁶ But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the sons of Ammon, says Yahweh.

⁷ Of Edom. Thus says Yahweh of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? has counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?⁸ Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.⁹ If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy until they had enough?¹⁰ But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he cannot hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is not.¹¹ Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.¹² For thus says Yahweh: Look, they to whom it did not pertain to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and are you he that shall altogether go unpunished? you shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.¹³ For I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, 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 Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.¹⁵ For, look, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among man.¹⁶ As for your terribleness, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you that dwell in the clefts of the rock, that hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh.¹⁷ And Edom shall become an astonishment: every one that passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.¹⁸ As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says Yahweh, a man shall not dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.¹⁹ Look, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make him run away from it; and whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it: 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 the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has 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 over them.²¹ The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is heard in the Red Sea.²² Look, 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 confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil tidings, they melt [with fear]; on the sea [there is] anxiety, it can't be quiet.²⁴ Damascus is waxed feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has 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, says Yahweh 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 says Yahweh: Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the sons of the east.²⁹ They shall take their tents and their flocks; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, Terror on every side!³⁰ Flee, wander far off, dwell in the depths, O you inhabitants of Hazor, says Yahweh; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against them, and has conceived a purpose against you.³¹ Arise, get up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says Yahweh; 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 to all winds those that have the corners [of their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Yahweh.³³ And Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation forever: man shall not dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.

³⁴ The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,³⁵ Thus says Yahweh of hosts: Look, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.³⁶ And on Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.³⁷ And I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those that seek their life; and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger, says Yahweh; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them;³⁸ and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes, says Yahweh.³⁹ But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says Yahweh.