Jeremiah 48; Jeremiah 49

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Jeremiah 48

1 Concerning Moab: The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: How awful for Nebo; it lies in ruins. Kirathaim is captured and shamed; the fortress is disgraced, reduced to rubble.

2 No one sings Moab's praise any longer! In Heshbon they are hatching a plot against her: "Come, let's bring down the nation!" You too, madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.

3 Listen to the cries for help from Horonaim: "Destruction and massive devastation!"

4 Moab is shattered; its young cry for help.

5 On the way up to Luhith, there is uncontrollable weeping. On the way down to Horonaim, they hear sobs of anguish.

6 Run for your lives! Be like Aroer in the desert.

7 Because you have relied on your own strength and treasures, you also will be captured. Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.

8 The destroyer will sweep through every town; no town will escape. The valleys will be ravaged; the plateaus will be destroyed, because the LORD has declared it so.

9 Give wings to Moab, and it would fly away because its towns lie in ruins, with no one left in them.

10 Cursed is the one who is halfhearted in doing the LORD's work. Cursed is the one who restrains the sword from bloodshed.

11 From early on Moab has been at ease, like wine left to settle on its sediment. It hasn't been poured into jars; nor has Moab been taken into exile. Therefore, its taste is still pleasant, and its aroma is the same.

12 But the time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him someone to spill it—to pour out his wine and to smash his jars.

13 And Moab will be put to shame on account of Chemosh, just as the people of Israel were put to shame on account of Bethel, in which they trusted.

14 How can you claim, "We're soldiers; we're war heroes"?

15 Moab is doomed; its towns will surrender; its elite forces will go down in defeat, declares the king whose name is the LORD of heavenly forces.

16 Moab's destruction is near; its downfall approaches rapidly.

17 Grieve for this nation, you neighbors of Moab, all you who know his name. Proclaim how its mighty scepter and magnificent staff are shattered!

18 Come down from your lofty place and sit in the dust, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon; because Moab's destroyer has arrived to level your fortresses.

19 Stand by the roads and watch, you inhabitants of Aroer. Ask the men who flee and the women who run off, "What's happened?"

20 Moab is shamed and shocked; weep and wail! Tell it by the Arnon River: Moab's been destroyed!

21 Judgment has come to the towns of the plateau— to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,

22 to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,

23 to Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,

24 to Kerioth and Bozrah, to all the towns of Moab, far and near.

25 Moab's horn is cut off; its arm is broken, declares the LORD.

26 Get Moab drunk, because it has exalted itself above the LORD. Moab will collapse in its vomit and become the butt of every joke.

27 Wasn't Israel the butt of your jokes? Didn't you shake your head as if they were thieves caught in the act?

28 Leave your towns, head for the cliffs, you people of Moab. Hide like a dove that nests in the mouth of a cave.

29 We have heard of Moab's pride: arrogant, puffed up, exalted, high and mighty, boastful!

30 I myself know about its arrogance, declares the LORD, the idle talk, the empty deeds.

31 But I'll still wail for Moab; I'll cry out for all Moab; I'll sob for the people of Kir-heres.

32 I'll weep for you, vine of Sibmah, more than I would for Jazer. Though your branches extended to the sea and reached the coast of Jazer, now the destroyer has come to harvest your grapes and summer fruits.

33 Joy and gladness have been taken from the orchards and farms of Moab. I have stopped making wine in the presses. No one shouts with joy while treading the grapes. Though there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy!

34 Screams are heard from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz; their cries resound from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.

35 I'll put an end to Moab, declares the LORD, for making offerings on the shrines, and worshipping their gods.

36 Therefore, my heart wails for Moab like a mournful flute that plays the dirge; my heart wails for the people of Kir-heres, like a mournful flute. Their abundance is now gone.

37 Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off, every hand is slashed, and everyone wears mourning clothes.

38 On every housetop of Moab and in all its streets, there's nothing but mourning. I have shattered Moab like a pottery vessel no one wants, declares the LORD.

39 How it's shattered! Go wail! How Moab turns away! What shame! Moab has become the butt of every joke, horrific to all its neighbors.

40 The LORD proclaims: Look! One who soars like an eagle and spreads its wings over Moab.

41 The towns will be captured; the strongholds will be seized. On that day, the heart of every soldier from Moab will be like that of a woman in the throes of labor.

42 Moab will be destroyed once and for all because it has exalted itself above the LORD.

43 Terror, traps, and trackers are upon you, people of Moab, declares the LORD.

44 Those who flee from terror will fall into a pit; those who escape the pit will be captured by the trap. I will bring upon Moab the year of its punishment, declares the LORD.

45 In Heshbon tired refugees seek shelter. But fire is raging in Heshbon, flames from the house of Sihon. It has burned up part of Moab, including the leader of this rebellious nation.

46 How terrible for you, Moab; the people of Chemosh have perished. Your sons have been carried off; your daughters have been taken captive.

47 But in the days to come I'll bring back Moab from captivity, declares the LORD. Such is the judgment on Moab.

Jeremiah 49

1 Concerning the Ammonites, the LORD proclaims: Doesn't Israel have children? Aren't there heirs to his land? Why then has Milcom taken over Gad? Why have his people settled in its towns?

2 Therefore, the time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle alarm against Rabbah, the capital city of the Ammonites. The city will be demolished, and its neighboring villages will be burned to the ground. Then Israel will repossess the land seized by its captors, says the LORD.

3 Weep, you people of Heshbon; Ai has been destroyed. Wail, you daughters of Rabbah; put on funeral clothing, cry your eyes out, run for shelter. Milcom will surely go into exile, together with his priests and ministers.

4 Why do you brag about your strength? Your strength is exhausted, you rebellious daughter. You trust in your treasures, never imagining who would attack you.

5 I'm the one who will terrify you from every side, declares the LORD of heavenly forces. Every one of you will be scattered about; no one will gather those who fled.

6 Afterward, though, I will bring back the Ammonites from captivity, declares the LORD.

7 Concerning Edom, the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: Is wisdom no longer in Teman? Has good sense vanished from the perceptive? Are they no longer wise?

8 Turn, flee, and run for cover, you inhabitants of Dedan. I'm bringing disaster on Esau: its day of reckoning.

9 If workers would come to you to pick grapes, they would at least leave a few on the vine. If thieves would come in the night, they would take only what they needed.

10 But me? I will strip Esau bare. I will expose his hiding places, and he will find no place to take cover. His offspring, family, and acquaintances will perish, and there will be no one left to say,

11 "Leave me your orphans, and I'll look after them; trust your widows into my care."

12 The LORD proclaims: If the innocent must drink the cup, why do you expect to escape punishment? You won't! You will drink it!

13 I myself swear, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become an object of horror and scorn, a wasteland and a curse. And all of its towns will lie in ruins forever.

14 I have heard a report from the LORD that a messenger is sent among the nations: Join forces and come against her; prepare for war!

15 I'm about to cut you down to size before the nations; you will be scorned by everyone.

16 The terror you have inflicted on others has deceived you, as has your own pride. Though you live in a fortress and occupy the high ground; though you nest on high like the eagles, I will bring you down, declares the LORD.

17 Then Edom will become a wasteland. All who pass by will be shocked by its injuries.

18 It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and their surrounding towns, says the LORD. No one will live there; no human will dwell in it.

19 Like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan to a well-watered meadow, so I will suddenly chase down Edom and single out its choicest of rams. Who is like me? Who can direct me? What shepherd can withstand me?

20 Therefore, listen to the counsel that the LORD has for Edom and the plans he's devised against the people of Teman: The little ones of the flock will be dragged off, as their pasture watches in utter disbelief.

21 The earth quakes as the Edomites go down; their screams echo as far as the Reed Sea.

22 Look! One who mounts up and soars like an eagle, who swoops down and spreads his wings over Bozrah. On that day, the heart of every soldier from Edom will be like that of a woman in the throes of labor.

23 Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad lose heart when they hear the bad news. They are trembling with fear, like the raging sea, which can't become quiet.

24 Damascus staggers about; she tries to flee, but panic overwhelms her. She's gripped by anguish and pain, like a woman in labor.

25 Forsaken is the renowned city, city of my delight.

26 Yes, her young men will fall in the streets, and her soldiers will be silent on that day, declares the LORD of heavenly forces.

27 I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will burn up the fortresses of Ben-hadad.

28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar defeated, the LORD proclaims: Get ready to attack Kedar; destroy the people from the east!

29 Seize their tents and their flocks, their belongings and all their goods. Take off with their camels and shout as you go: "Panic Lurks Everywhere!"

30 Run away; take cover, you people of Hazor, declares the LORD. Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar has taken counsel and devised a plan against you.

31 Get ready to attack a nation that feels safe and secure, declares the LORD, one without barred gates that lives by itself.

32 Their camels will become plunder; their many cattle will be pillaged. I will scatter to the winds those who are clean-shaven, and I will bring disaster on them from every side, declares the LORD.

33 Hazor will become a den for wild dogs, a wilderness forever. No one will live there; no human will dwell in it.

34 This is what the LORD told the prophet Jeremiah concerning Elam at the beginning of the rule of Judah's King Zedekiah.

35 The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: I'm going to break the bow of Elam, the backbone of its military might.

36 I will bring against Elam four winds from the four corners of heaven, and I will scatter them to the winds. Those banished from Elam will migrate to every nation.

37 I will terrify Elam before their enemies, before those who seek to kill them. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the LORD. I will send the sword to attack them until I have destroyed them all.

38 I will establish my rule in Elam and dispose of its king and officials, declares the LORD.

39 But in the days to come I will bring back the captives of Elam, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 48; Jeremiah 49

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Jeremiah 48

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