Jeremiah 49-50

New Life Version

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Ammon

49 About the sons of Ammon, the Lord says, “Does Israel have no sons? Does she have no one to receive what she leaves? Why then has Malcam taken Gad as his own? Why do his people live in its cities? ² But the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will blow a horn giving the sound of war against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. And it will become a waste. Its towns will be set on fire. Then Israel will take the land from those who had taken it from her,” says the Lord.

³ “Cry out, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, O people of Rabbah. Put on clothes made from hair and cry in sorrow. And run this way and that way inside the walls. For Malcam will go to a strange land, together with his religious leaders and his important men. ⁴ How you speak in pride about the valleys! Your valley is flowing away, O daughter without faith who trusts in her riches, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’ ⁵ I will bring much trouble upon you,” says the Lord God of All. “It will come from all around you, and each of you will be driven away. There will be no one to gather together those who run for their lives. ⁶ But after this I will return the sons of Ammon to their land,” says the Lord.

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Edom

⁷ About Edom, the Lord of All says, “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Have wise words been lost from the wise? Is their wisdom all gone? ⁸ Run away! Turn back and live in the deep places, O people of Dedan. For I will bring the trouble of Esau upon him when I punish him. ⁹ If those who gather grapes came to you, would they not leave some grapes behind? If robbers came during the night, would they not take only what was enough for them? ¹⁰ But I have taken all that Esau has. I have taken the covering from his hiding places so that he will not be able to hide himself. His children, his brothers, and his neighbors are destroyed. And he is no more. ¹¹ Leave your children behind, who have lost their parents, and I will keep them alive. And let your women whose husbands have died trust in Me.” ¹² For the Lord says, “If those who were not to drink the cup must drink it, will you go without being punished? You will not go without being punished, but you must drink it. ¹³ For I have promised by Myself,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of trouble, a shame, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be destroyed forever.”

¹⁴ I have heard word from the Lord. A man with news is sent among the nations, saying, “Gather together and come against her! Rise up for battle! ¹⁵ For I have made you small among the nations, hated among men. ¹⁶ As for the fear you have caused, the pride of your heart has fooled you, O you who live in the holes of rocks, who live on the top of the hill. Even if you make your nest as high as an eagle’s, I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord. ¹⁷ ‘Edom will become an object of trouble. Everyone who passes by will be surprised and will make fun of all its suffering. ¹⁸ As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were destroyed, no one will live there,” says the Lord. “No man will live there. ¹⁹ One will come up like a lion from the trees by the Jordan to rich grass fields. All at once I will make him run away from Edom. And I will make whoever I choose rule over it. For who is like Me? Who will call Me into court? What shepherd can stand against Me?”

²⁰ So hear the plan the Lord has made against Edom. Listen to His plans which He has made against the people of Teman. Even the little ones of the flock will be pulled away. For sure He will make their fields an empty waste because of them. ²¹ The earth will shake at the sound of their fall. The sound of their cry will be heard at the Red Sea. ²² See, one will come and fly down in a hurry like an eagle. He will spread out his wings against Bozrah. In that day the hearts of the strong men of Edom will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Damascus

²³ About Damascus, He says, “Hamath and Arpad are troubled, for they have heard bad news. Their hearts have become weak. They are troubled like the sea which cannot be quiet. ²⁴ Damascus has become weak. She has turned to run away. Fear has taken hold of her. Pain and sorrows have taken hold of her like a woman giving birth. ²⁵ Why does the city of praise, the town of My joy, still have people in it? ²⁶ For sure her young men will fall in her streets. And all the men of war will be destroyed in that day,” says the Lord of All. ²⁷ “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus. And it will burn up the strong towers of Ben-hadad.”

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Kedar and Hazor

²⁸ About Kedar and the nations of Hazor, which were beaten in battle by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord says, “Get up and go to Kedar, and destroy the men of the east. ²⁹ Their tents and their flocks will be taken. Their tent curtains, and all their good things, and their camels will be carried away for themselves. And men will call out to them, ‘Trouble is on every side!’ ³⁰ Run! Run far away! Live in the deep places, O people of Hazor,” says the Lord. “For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made a plan against you. He has thought of a way to hurt you. ³¹ Get up and go to fight against a nation which is at rest and lives without fear,” says the Lord. “It has no gates with pieces of iron. And its people live alone. ³² Their camels and their many cattle will become a prize of war. I will send everywhere to the winds those who are in the farthest places. I will bring trouble to them from every side,” says the Lord. ³³ “Hazor will become a place where wild dogs live, a waste place forever. No man will live there, and no man will stay there.”

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Elam

³⁴ This is the Word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the man of God about Elam, at the beginning of the rule of King Zedekiah of Judah, saying, ³⁵ “The Lord of All says, ‘I will break the bow of Elam, the best of their strength. ³⁶ I will bring the four winds to Elam from the four ends of heaven. And I will have these winds send them everywhere. There will not be a nation to which the people sent out of Elam will not go. ³⁷ I will fill Elam with fear in front of those who hate them and want to kill them. I will bring much trouble upon them, even My burning anger,’ says the Lord. ‘I will send the sword after them until I have destroyed them. ³⁸ Then I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy their kings and leaders,’ says the Lord. ³⁹ ‘But in the last days I will return the people of Elam to their land,’” says the Lord.

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Babylon

50 The word which the Lord spoke about Babylon, the land of the Babylonians, through Jeremiah the man of God: ² “Make it known among the nations. Lift up a flag and make it known. Do not hide it, but say, ‘Babylon has been taken. Bel has been put to shame. Marduk has been broken down. Her objects of worship have been put to shame. Her false gods have been broken down.’ ³ For a nation has come up against her from the north. It will make her land an empty waste, and no one will live in it. Both man and animal will run away.

⁴ “In those days and at that time,” says the Lord, “the sons of Israel will come, together with the sons of Judah. They will cry as they come, and will be looking for the Lord their God. ⁵ They will ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an agreement that lasts forever, one that will never be forgotten.’

⁶ “My people have become lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them the wrong way. They have made them turn away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill and have forgotten their resting place. ⁷ All who found them have destroyed them. Those who hate them have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their true resting place Who is right and good, the hope of their fathers.’ ⁸ Run out of Babylon. Go from the land of the Babylonians. Be like male goats that go before the flock. ⁹ For I am going to raise up and bring against Babylon a group of great nations from the land of the north. They will come ready for battle against her, and she will be taken. Their arrows will be like an able soldier who does not return with empty hands. ¹⁰ Babylon will become a prize of war. All who take things from her will have enough,” says the Lord.

Babylon Is Punished

¹¹ “You are glad and full of joy, O you who take what belongs to My people. You play around like a young cow in grain, and sound like strong horses. Because of this, ¹² your mother will be very ashamed. She who gave birth to you will be put to shame. She will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a waste, and a desert. ¹³ Because of the Lord’s anger no people will live there. She will be left with no people. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be surprised, and will make fun of her because of her sores. ¹⁴ Come up for battle against Babylon on every side, all you who use the bow. Shoot at her. Do not save any of your arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. ¹⁵ Raise your battle cry against her on every side. She has given herself up. Her strong pillars have fallen. Her walls have been torn down. Since this is the punishment of the Lord, punish her. Do to her as she has done to others. ¹⁶ Cut off from Babylon the one who plants seeds and the one who cuts the grain at gathering time. Because of the sword of the one who makes it hard for them, everyone will return to his own people. Each one will run to his own land.

Israel Is Like a Flock of Sheep

¹⁷ “Israel is like sheep sent everywhere, driven away by lions. The first one who destroyed Israel was the king of Assyria. And the last one who has broken his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. ¹⁸ So the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ I will return Israel to his field, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan. And his desire will be filled in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. ²⁰ In those days and at that time,’ says the Lord, ‘sin will be looked for in Israel, but there will be none. And sin will be looked for in Judah, but it will not be found. For I will forgive those whom I allow to return.’

Words about Babylon

²¹ “Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the people of Pekod. Kill and destroy all of them,” says the Lord, “and do all that I have told you. ²² The noise of battle is in the land, and much is destroyed. ²³ How the strong one of the whole earth has been cut off and broken! Babylon has become a complete waste among the nations! ²⁴ I set a trap for you, and you were caught, O Babylon, and you did not know it. You have been found and caught, because you have fought against the Lord.” ²⁵ The Lord has opened His store-house and has brought out the swords of His anger. For the Lord, the God of All, has work to do in the land of the Babylonians. ²⁶ Come to her from the farthest land. Open her store-houses. Gather her up like grain, and destroy all of her. Let nothing be left of her. ²⁷ Kill all her young bulls. Let them go down to be killed. It is bad for them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment. ²⁸ Listen! They are running from the land of Babylon to tell in Zion about the punishment of the Lord our God. They are telling how the Lord punishes those who destroyed His house of worship.

²⁹ “Call all those who use the bow to fight against Babylon. Gather around her on every side. Let no one get away. Pay her back for what she did. Do to her all that she has done. For she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ So her young men will fall in her streets. And all her men of war will be made quiet in that day,” says the Lord. ³¹ “See, I am against you, O proud one,” says the Lord God of All. “For your day has come, the time when I will punish you. ³² The proud one will trip and fall with no one to help him up. I will set fire to his cities, and it will burn up all that is around him.” ³³ The Lord of All says, “The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah are troubled and are held under a bad power. All who took them away in chains have held on to them. They have not been willing to let them go. ³⁴ The One Who saves and makes them free is strong. The Lord of All is His name. He will work hard for their cause, so that He may give rest to the land. But He will not give rest to the people of Babylon. ³⁵ A sword is against the Babylonians,” says the Lord, “and against the people of Babylon, and against her leaders and her wise men! ³⁶ A sword is against her religious leaders who are false and lie. They will become fools! A sword is against her strong men, and they will be filled with fear! ³⁷ A sword is against her horses and war-wagons, and against all the soldiers from other lands who are with her! They will become like women! A sword is against her riches, and they will be taken! ³⁸ A time of no rain and her waters will be dried up! For it is a land of false gods. They are wild over false gods. ³⁹ So the desert animals will live there together with the wild dogs. And ostriches also will live in it. Never again will people live there. ⁴⁰ As when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities,” says the Lord, “no man will live there. And no man will stay there.

⁴¹ “See, a nation is coming from the north. A great nation and many kings are moving from the farthest parts of the earth. ⁴² They take hold of their bow and spear. They fight without pity. Their voice sounds like the sea. And they ride on horses, dressed ready for battle against you, O people of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the news about them, and his hands hang without strength. Suffering has taken hold of him, like the pain of a woman giving birth.

⁴⁴ “One will come up like a lion from the trees by the Jordan to rich grass fields. All at once I will make the people run away from Babylon. And I will make whoever I choose to rule over it. For who is like Me? Who will call Me into court? What shepherd can stand before Me?” ⁴⁵ So hear the plan which the Lord has made against Babylon. Listen to His plans which He has made against the land of the Babylonians. Even the little ones of the flock will be taken away. He will make their fields an empty waste because of them. ⁴⁶ At the cry, “Babylon has been taken!” the earth will shake, and the cry will be heard among the nations.