Jeremiah 49:3-13

3 "People in the town of Heshbon, cry sadly because the town of Ai is destroyed! Those who live in Rabbah, cry out! Put on your rough cloth to show your sadness, and cry loudly. Run here and there for safety inside the walls, because Molech will be taken captive and his priests and officers with him.
4 You brag about your valleys and about the fruit in your valleys. You are like an unfaithful child who believes his treasures will save him. You think, 'Who would attack me?'
5 I will soon bring terror on you from everyone around you," says the Lord God All-Powerful. "You will all be forced to run away, and no one will be able to gather you.
6 "But the time will come when I will make good things happen to the Ammonites again," says the Lord.
7 This message is to Edom. This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Is there no more wisdom in the town of Teman? give good advice? Have they lost their wisdom?
8 You people living in the town of Dedan, run away and hide in deep caves, because I will bring disaster on the people of Esau. It is time for me to punish them.
9 If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines, they would leave a few grapes behind. If robbers came at night, they would steal only enough for themselves.
10 But I will strip Edom bare. I will find all their hiding places, so they will not be able to hide from me. The children, relatives, and neighbors will die, and Edom will be no more.
11 Leave the orphans, and I will take care of them. Your widows also can trust in me."
12 This is what the Lord says: "Some people did not deserve to be punished, but they had to drink from the cup of suffering anyway. People of Edom, you deserve to be punished, so you will not escape punishment. You must certainly drink from the cup of suffering."
13 The Lord says, "I swear by my own name that the city of Bozrah will become a pile of ruins! People will be shocked by what happened there. They will insult that city and speak evil of it. And all the towns around it will become ruins forever."

Jeremiah 49:3-13 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.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.