¹Of the children of Ammon . The LORD says :

“Has Israel no sons ?

Has he no heir ?

Why then does Malcam possess Gad ,

and his people dwell in its cities ?

²Therefore behold , the days come ,”

says the LORD ,

“that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon ,

and it will become a desolate heap ,

and her daughters will be burnt with fire ;

then Israel will possess those who possessed him ,”

says the LORD .

³“Wail , Heshbon , for Ai is laid waste !

Cry , you daughters of Rabbah !

Clothe yourself in sackcloth .

Lament , and run back and forth amongst the fences;

for Malcam will go into captivity ,

his priests and his princes together .

⁴Why do you boast in the valleys ,

your flowing valley , backsliding daughter ?

You trusted in her treasures,

saying, ‘Who will come to me ?’

⁵Behold , I will bring a terror on you ,”

says the Lord , GOD of Armies ,

“from all who are around you .

All of you will be driven completely out ,

and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives .

⁶“But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon ,”

says the LORD .

⁷Of Edom, the LORD of Armies says :

“Is wisdom no more in Teman ?

Has counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom vanished ?

⁸Flee ! Turn back !

Dwell in the depths , inhabitants of Dedan ;

for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him .

⁹If grape gatherers came to you ,

would they not leave some gleaning grapes ?

If thieves came by night ,

wouldn’t they steal until they had enough ?

¹⁰But I have made Esau bare ,

I have uncovered his secret places ,

and he will not be able to hide himself .

His offspring is destroyed ,

with his brothers and his neighbours ;

and he is no more .

¹¹Leave your fatherless children .

I will preserve them alive .

Let your widows trust in me .”

¹²For the LORD says : “Behold , they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink ; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished ? You won’t go unpunished , but you will surely drink .

¹³For I have sworn by myself,” says the LORD , “that Bozrah will become an astonishment , a reproach , a waste , and a curse . All its cities will be perpetual wastes .”

¹⁴I have heard news from the LORD ,

and an ambassador is sent amongst the nations ,

saying, “Gather yourselves together !

Come against her !

Rise up to the battle !”

¹⁵“For , behold , I have made you small amongst the nations ,

and despised amongst men.

¹⁶As for your terror ,

the pride of your heart has deceived you ,

O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock ,

who 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 the LORD .

¹⁷“Edom will become an astonishment .

Everyone who passes by it will be astonished ,

and will hiss at all its plagues .

¹⁸As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbour cities,” says the LORD ,

“no man will dwell there ,

neither will any son of man live therein .

¹⁹“Behold , he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation ;

for I will suddenly make them run away from it ,

and whoever is chosen,

I will appoint him over it .

For who is like me ?

Who will appoint me a time ?

Who is the shepherd who will stand before me ?”

²⁰Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD , that he has taken against Edom,

and his purposes that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman :

Surely they will drag them away ,

the little ones of the flock .

Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them .

²¹The earth trembles at the noise of their fall ;

there is a cry , the noise which is heard in the Red Sea .

²²Behold , he will come up and fly as the eagle ,

and spread out his wings against Bozrah .

The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs .

²³Of Damascus :

“Hamath and Arpad are confounded,

for they have heard evil news .

They have melted away .

There is sorrow on the sea .

It can ’t be quiet .

²⁴Damascus has grown feeble ,

she turns herself to flee ,

and trembling has seized her .

Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her ,

as of a woman in travail .

²⁵How is the city of praise not forsaken ,

the city of my joy ?

²⁶Therefore her young men will fall in her streets ,

and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day ,”

says the LORD of Armies .

²⁷“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus ,

and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.”

²⁸Of Kedar , and of the kingdoms of Hazor , which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck , The LORD says :

“Arise , go up to Kedar ,

and destroy the children of the east .

²⁹They will take their tents and their flocks .

they will carry away for themselves their curtains ,

all their vessels , and their camels ;

and they will cry to them , ‘Terror on every side !’

³⁰Flee !

Wander far off !

Dwell in the depths , you inhabitants of Hazor ,” says the LORD ;

“for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you ,

and has conceived a purpose against you .

³¹Arise ! Go up to a nation that is at ease ,

that dwells without care,” says the LORD ;

“that has neither gates nor bars ,

that dwells alone.

³²Their camels will be a booty ,

and the multitude of their livestock a plunder .

I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off ;

and I will bring their calamity from every side of them ,”

says the LORD .

³³Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals ,

a desolation forever .

No man will dwell there ,

neither will any son of man live therein .”

³⁴The LORD ’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam , in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah , saying ,

³⁵“The LORD of Armies says :

‘Behold , I will break the bow of Elam ,

the chief of their might .

³⁶I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky ,

and will scatter them towards all those winds .

There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come .

³⁷I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,

and before those who seek their life .

I will bring evil on them , even my fierce anger ,’ says the LORD ;

‘and I will send the sword after them ,

until I have consumed them .

³⁸I will set my throne in Elam ,

and will destroy from there king and princes ,’ says the LORD .

³⁹‘But it will happen in the latter days

that I will reverse the captivity of Elam ,’ says the LORD .”