The judgment of the Ammonites, 1-5. Their restoration, 6. The judgment of Edom, 7-22; of Damascus, 23-27; of Kedar, 28, 29; of Hazor, 30-33; and of Elam, 34-38. The restoration of Elam, 39.
1 [Concerning the Ammonites.] Thus says the LORD:
"Does Israel have no sons?/
Does he have no heir?/
Why then does their king inherit Gad,/
and his people dwell in his cities?
2 Therefore, behold, the days come," says the LORD,/
"that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard/
in Rabbah of the Ammonites,/
and it shall be a desolate heap,/
and her daughters shall be burned with fire./
Then Israel shall be heir to those who were his heirs,"/
says the LORD.
3 "Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste./
Cry, you daughters of Rabbah./
Gird yourselves with sackcloth./
Lament, and run to and fro by the hedges./
For their king shall go into captivity,/
and his priests and his princes together.
4 Why do you glory in the valleys,/
your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter,/
who trusted in her treasures, saying,/
'Who shall come to me?'
5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon you,"/
says the Lord GOD of hosts,/
"from all those who are around you./
And you shall each be driven out headlong./
And no one shall gather up him who wanders.
6 And afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon,"/
says the LORD.
7 [Concerning Edom.] Thus says the LORD of hosts:
"Is wisdom no longer in Teman?/
Has counsel perished from the prudent?/
Has their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan,/
for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,/
the time that I will visit him.
9 If grape-gatherers come to you,/
would they not leave some gleaning grapes?/
If thieves by night,/
they will destroy until they have enough.
10 But I have made Esau bare,/
I have uncovered his secret places,/
and he shall not be able to hide himself./
His offspring is laid waste,/
along with his brothers and his neighbors,/
and he is no more.
11 Leave your fatherless children./
I will preserve them alive./
And let your widows trust in me."
12 For thus says the LORD: "Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drank. And are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by myself," says the LORD, "that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes."
14 I have heard a rumor from the LORD,/
and an ambassador is sent to the heathen, saying,/
"Assemble, and come against her/
and rise up to the battle,
15 For behold, I will make you small among the heathen/
and despised among men.
16 Your terribleness has deceived you,/
and the pride of your heart,/
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 "Also Edom shall be a desolation. Everyone who goes by it shall be astonished and shall hiss at all her plagues. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities," says the LORD, "no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. 19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan against the habitation of the strong, but I will suddenly make him run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like me? And who will appoint me the time? And who is that shepherd who will stand before me?"
20 Therefore, hear the counsel of the LORD that he has taken against Edom, and also his purposes that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman. Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out. Surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. 21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall. At the cry its noise was heard in the Red Sea. 22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle and spread his wings over Bozrah. And at that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23 [Concerning Damascus.]
"Hamath is confounded, and also Arpad,/
for they have heard evil tidings./
They are faint-hearted./
There is sorrow on the sea./
It cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus has become feeble and turns herself to flee,/
and fear has seized upon her./
Anguish and sorrows have taken her,/
as a woman in travail.
25 How the city of praise is not left,/
the city of my joy!
26 Therefore, her young men shall fall in her streets,/
and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,"/
says the LORD of hosts.
27 "And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,/
and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad."
28 [Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall smite.] Thus says the LORD:
"Arise, go up to Kedar/
and lay waste the men of the east.
29 Their tents and their flocks they shall take away./
They shall take for themselves their curtains,/
all their vessels, and their camels,/
and they shall cry to them,/
'Fear is on every side.'
30 Flee, get yourselves far off, dwell deep,/
O inhabitants of Hazor," says the LORD,/
"for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon/
has taken counsel against you/
and has conceived a purpose against you.
31 Arise, go up to the wealthy nation/
that dwells without care," says the LORD,/
"which have neither gates nor bars,/
which dwell alone.
32 And their camels shall be loot/
and the multitude of their cattle for plunder./
And I will scatter into all winds/
those who are in the utmost corners,/
and I will bring their calamity/
from all sides of it," says the LORD.
33 "And Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals/
and a desolation forever./
No man shall abide there,/
nor any son of man dwell in it."
34 [The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.]
35 Thus says the LORD of hosts:
"Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,/
the chief of their might.
36 And upon Elam I will bring the four winds/
from the four quarters of heaven/
and will scatter them toward all those winds./
And there shall be no nation/
where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies/
and before those who seek their life./
And I will bring evil upon them,/
even my fierce anger," says the LORD,/
"and I will send the sword after them/
until I have consumed them.
38 And I will set my throne in Elam/
and will destroy from there the king and the princes," says the LORD.
39 "But it shall come to pass in the latter days,/
that I will bring back the captivity of Elam," says the LORD.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Jeremiah, Chapter 49[➚]