Jeremiah 49:12-22

12 For the Lord saith these things, Lo! they drinking shall drink, to whom was no doom, that they should drink the cup (Lo! they who were not doomed, that they should drink the cup, even so, they shall still have to drink it). And shalt thou be left as innocent? (No!) thou shalt not be (left as) innocent, but thou drinking shalt (also) drink (of it).
13 For I swore by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall be into wilderness, and into shame, and into forsaking, and into cursing; and all the cities thereof shall be into everlasting wildernesses.
14 I heard an hearing of the Lord, and I am sent (as) a messenger to heathen men (I heard a word from the Lord, and I am sent as a messenger to the heathen); (to say,) Be ye gathered together, and come ye against them, and rise we (up) together into battle.
15 For lo! I have given thee (like) a little one among heathen men, despisable among men. (For lo! I make thee little among the heathen, and despised among the people.)
16 Thy boast, and the pride of thine heart, hath deceived thee, that dwellest in the caves of stone, and enforcest to take (hold of) the highness of a little hill; when thou as an eagle hast raised (up) thy nest, from thence I shall draw thee down, saith the Lord. (Thy boast, and the pride of thy heart, have deceived thee, thou who livest in stone caves, and endeavourest to take hold of the highness, or the top, of a little hill; even though thou hast raised up thy nest like an eagle, from there I shall draw thee down, saith the Lord.)
17 And Idumea shall be forsaken; each man that shall pass by it, shall wonder, and shall hiss on all the wounds thereof; (And Edom shall be deserted; each person who shall pass by it, shall wonder, and shall hiss at all its wounds;)
18 as Sodom and Gomorrah is destroyed, and the nigh cities thereof, saith the Lord. A man shall not dwell there, and the son of (a) man shall not inhabit it. (yea, it, and the cities nearby, shall be destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah, saith the Lord. No one shall live there, and no one shall inhabit it.)
19 Lo! as a lion he shall ascend from the pride of Jordan to the strong fairness; for I shall make him run suddenly to it; and who shall be the chosen man whom I shall set before him? For who is like to me, and who shall suffer me? and who is this shepherd, that shall against-stand my cheer? (Lo! like a lion he shall come up from the thickets of the Jordan River to the plentiful pastures; but suddenly I shall make him run away; and then who shall be the chosen one that I shall set before him? For who is like me? and who shall dare to challenge me? and who is this shepherd of the people, who shall stand against me?)
20 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he took to Edom, and his thoughts, which he thought of the dwellers of Teman. If the little (ones) of the flock cast not them down, if they destroy not with them the dwelling of them, else no man give credence to me. (And so hear ye the counsel, or the advice, of the Lord, which he brought against Edom, and his thoughts, which he thought against the inhabitants of Teman. The little ones of the flock shall be cast down, or carried off, and they shall destroy their dwelling places with them, else no one give credence to me/or else no one believe me.)
21 The earth was moved of the voice of [the] falling of them; the cry of voice thereof was heard in the Red Sea. (The earth was shaken at the sound of their falling; the cries of their voices were heard at the Red Sea, or at the Sea of Reeds.)
22 Lo! as an eagle he shall ascend, and fly out, and he shall spread abroad his wings on Bozrah; and the heart of the strong men of Idumea shall be in that day, as the heart of a woman travailing of child. (Lo! he shall ascend like an eagle, and fly out, and he shall spread abroad his wings over Bozrah; and the hearts of the strong men of Edom shall be on that day, like the heart of a woman in labour/like the heart of a woman giving birth.)

Jeremiah 49:12-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 49

This chapter contains prophecies concerning the judgments of God on several nations and kingdoms, chiefly bordering on the land of Israel; on the Ammonites, Jer 49:1-6; on the Edomites, Jer 49:7-22; on the kingdom of Damascus, or the Syrians, Jer 49:23-27; on the Kedarenes or Arabians, Jer 49:28-33; and on the Elamites or Persians, Jer 49:34-39.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.