The Lord talks about the land of Ammon
1The Lord talked about the people of Ammon and He said:
‘The people of Israel have sons
who can inherit their land
and everything they have.
Why did the king of the Ammonites
get the land of Gad?
Why did the Ammonites go
and live in the towns of Gad?’
2The Lord says: ‘Because they did that,
I will send war to Rabbah,
the city of the Ammonites.
They will blow the trumpet
and the city of Rabbah
will become a heap of stones.
Rabbah will become a heap of sand
where no one lives,
and the enemies will burn down
all the towns near Rabbah.
Then the Israelites will come back
to the towns and cities
that the Ammonites took from them.’
This is what the Lord says.
3‘People of Heshbon, you must cry
because the enemies will destroy your city.
It will become a heap of stones.
Women of Rabbah, you must shout
and ask someone to help you.
You must put on sack-cloth and mourn.
You must walk to this side and
to the other side between the walls
around the wheat_fields,
because the enemies will take away
your king to another land,
and his priests and officials
will have to go with him.
4People of Heshbon, you think
the valleys and the deep streams
of water will protect you.
You are rebellious people.
You think your money and treasures
will help you,
and you think no one will come to attack you.’
5The Lord who rules over all says:
‘I will make you afraid of everyone around you.
Enemies will chase you away
and you will run away.
You will flee and not look back.
No one will be able
to bring your people together again.
6But later I will be good
to the Ammonites again.’
This is what the Lord says.
The Lord talks about the land of the Edomites
7The Lord who rules over all talks about the land of Edom and He says:
‘Is there no wisdom in the town of Teman?
The wise men don't know what to do.
Their wisdom has disappeared.
8People who live in Dedan,
you must turn_around and flee.
Hide far away, because I will make
the descendants of Esau suffer.
The time has come for Me to punish them.
9When people come to pick your grapes,
they leave some of the grapes on the vines.
If thieves come at night
to steal things in a house,
they take what they want
until they have enough
and they leave the other things.
10But I will take everything
from the people of Esau.
I will open all the places
where they are hiding,
so they can not hide themselves anymore.
The people of Esau do not have descendants
or brothers or neighbours,
and they will not stay alive.
11Their children do not have fathers,
but I will take care of them,
and their widows must know
that I will help them.’
12The Lord says: ‘I will do this because I have punished people who have not done as many sins as you did. They were not as guilty as you were, but they had to drink the cup_of_suffering. Do you think I will say that you are not guilty? I will not do that. You will have to drink the cup, that is sure. 13Yes, I promised Myself that people will use the name of the town of Bozrah when they want to make other people afraid or mock them or curse them. It will become a desert and all the other towns nearby will always be heaps of stones.’
14The Lord told me this news. He sent a messenger to the nations and said:
‘You must come together,
and you must go to war_against Edom.’
15The Lord says to the people of Edom:
‘I will make you a very small nation,
smaller than the other nations,
and other people will hate you.
16You have deceived yourselves,
you have boasted and you were proud.
You lived among the rocks
high in the mountains like an eagle
that makes its nest at the highest place.
But I will bring you down from there.’
This is what the Lord says. 17The Lord also says:
‘No one will live in Edom.
Everyone who walks past it
will be afraid and whistle
when they see what has happened to the land.
18It will be like when I destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah and
the other towns near them.
No one will live there.
Not one person will want to stay there.
19This you must know:
I will make the Arameans
flee from their land, like animals
eating grass near a water stream
run away when a lion comes
from the forest at the Jordan River.
I will choose someone to rule over their land.
Because who is like Me and
who can do what I do?
What king can be against Me and stay alive?
20So listen to what the Lord
has decided about Edom,
and listen to what He is going to do
to the people of the town of Teman.
The enemies will take their children away,
this is sure, and the people will be shocked
when they see what has happened to the Edomites.
21The earth will tremble
when the Edomites fall,
and everyone at the Red Sea will hear them shouting.
22As an eagle opens its wings
when it flies and comes down,
that is how the enemies
will come to the town of Bozrah.
On that day the soldiers of Edom
will be afraid as a woman
when she is having a baby.’
The Lord talks about the land of Aram
23The Lord talks about the city of Damascus and He says:
‘The people of the towns of Hamath and Arpad
do not know what to do
because they have received very bad news.
They melt away, and they go to this side
and to the other side like
the waves of the sea that can not rest.
24The people of Damascus can do nothing.
They want to turn_around
and run away because they are afraid.
They fear and feel pain
like a woman who is having a baby.
25People have always talked about
the city, and all its people were happy,
but that city will now become empty.’
26That is why the Lord who rules over all says:
‘On that day the young men of Damascus
will fall in the streets of the city
and the soldiers will become quiet.
27I will start a fire against the wall of Damascus
and the city with strong walls
that King Ben-Hadad built will burn down.’
The Lord talks about the land in the East
28The Lord talks about the town of Kedar and the land of Hazor that King Nebuchadnezzar defeated. The Lord says to Nebuchadnezzar:
‘You must get ready and go to Kedar,
and you must destroy the people of the East.
29You must take their tents,
their sheep and goats,
their shelters and everything they have.
Take away their camels
and shout to the people and say:
“Everyone will fear and
be afraid of everything.” ’
30‘People of Hazor, you must flee.
You must run away and hide
far away because Nebuchadnezzar
has made a plan against you,
and he wants to do something bad to you.’
31The Lord says to Nebuchadnezzar:
‘You must prepare and attack
a nation that think they are safe.
Their cities do not have gates
that can close and they are living alone.
32You can take their camels
and all their sheep and goats.
I will chase away these people
who shave the hair
on the sides of their heads,
and they will run away.
I will make them afraid
of anyone who comes their way.’
This is what the Lord says.
33‘Hazor will be a place for foxes,
and there will never be people living there again.
Not one person will stay there.’
The Lord talks about the land of Elam
34The Lord talked to the prophet Jeremiah about the land of Elam. This was just after Zedekiah had become king_of_Judah. 35The Lord who rules over all says:
‘I will break the bows_and_arrows
of the people of Elam,
and I will cause their best soldiers to die.
36I will make storm winds blow over the Elamites,
winds from the east, west, north and south.
I will chase them away
in front of all these winds,
and I will chase them all over the world.
There will be a few Elamites
living with every nation.
37I will make the Elamites afraid
of their enemies who want to kill them.
The Elamites will feel the fire burning
when I become angry and make them suffer.’
This is what the Lord says. He also says:
‘I will send enemies with swords
to attack the Elamites
until every one of them has died.
38I will rule in Elam Myself,
and I will cause their king and all officials to die.’
This is what the Lord says. 39The Lord also says:
‘But later I will be good
to the Elamite people again.’
