¹To the sons of Ammon, this is what the Lord says:

“Does Israel not have sons?

Does it not have an heir?

Why has their king dispossessed Gad,

So that his people live in his cities?

²Behold, that is why the days are coming,

Says the Lord,

When I will cause a battle-cry to be heard in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon,

And it will become a desolate heap of ruins,

And its satellite villages will be burned with fire,

And Israel will inherit those who dispossessed it,

Says the Lord.

³Howl, Heshbon,

For Ai has been sacked.

Cry out, you satellite villages of Rabbah.

Bind on sackcloth, mourn;

Run to and fro in the fenced places,

For their king will go into exile,

Together with his priests and his officials.

⁴Why do you boast of the valleys,

O flowing valley of yours?

– O rebellious daughter,

Who trust in your treasures,

Thinking, ‘Who can come against me?’

⁵I am about to bring fear on you,

Says the Lord

– The Lord of hosts –

Of all those around you.

And you will be driven out,

Each at his advance,

And there will be no-one gathering up him who flees.

⁶But afterwards I will reverse the captivity of the sons of Ammon,

Says the Lord.”

⁷To Edom, this is what the Lord of hosts says:

“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?

Has counsel deserted those who should have understanding?

Has their wisdom been spilt?

⁸Flee, turn;

Make where you live deep down,

You inhabitants of Dedan,

For I will bring the downfall of Esau on it

When I visit it.

⁹If those who pick grapes come to you,

They will not leave anything to glean.

If thieves come in the night,

They will plunder as much as they want.

¹⁰For I have laid Esau bare;

I have revealed his secret places,

And he cannot hide.

His seed has been despoiled,

As have his brothers and his neighbours,

And he is not to be found.

¹¹Leave your orphans;

I will sustain them,

And your widows will trust in me.

¹²For this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink the cup have certainly drunk it, so will you be the one who is completely absolved? You will not be absolved, but you will certainly drink it. ¹³For I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will be a desolation, an object of reproach, a desert and an object of cursing. And all its cities will become age-abiding desert places.’ ”

¹⁴I have heard a report from the Lord,

And an envoy sent among the nations,

Saying, “Assemble and come against it,

And rise up for war.

¹⁵For look,

I will make you small among the nations

– Despised among men.

¹⁶Your monstrous idol has deceived you

By the presumption of your heart,

You who dwell in the fissures of the rock

– You who hold the summit of the hill.

Even if you make your nest as high as an eagle,

I will bring you down from there,

Says the Lord.

¹⁷And Edom will become a desolation.

Everyone who passes through it

Will be astonished

And will jeer at all its wrecked places,

¹⁸As at the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbours,

Says the Lord.

Not a man will dwell there,

And not a son of Adam will reside in it.

¹⁹Behold, he will come up like a lion

From the splendour of the Jordan

To the residence of the strong one,

For I will act all of a sudden

And make it run from the place.

And who is chosen

So that I may appoint him over it?

For who is like me,

And who can arraign me?

And who is this shepherd

Who will stand before me?

²⁰So hear the counsel of the Lord

With which he gave counsel concerning Edom,

And his purposes which he has conceived

Regarding the inhabitants of Teman.

Men will certainly drag away the young of the sheep;

He will certainly devastate their dwelling places,

To their cost.

²¹At the sound of their fall,

The earth will shake.

As for the outcry,

The sound of it will be heard at the Red Sea.

²²Look, he will rise like an eagle

And swoop and spread his wings over Bozrah,

And the hearts of the warriors of Edom on that day

Will be like the heart of a woman in labour pains.”

²³To Damascus:

“Hamath has been put to shame,

As has Arpad,

For they have heard a calamitous report.

They are melting away.

In the sea there is anxiety;

It cannot be at rest.

²⁴Damascus has become feeble;

It has taken to flight,

And trembling has seized it.

Distress and pains have seized it,

As a woman in childbirth.

²⁵How the praised city is unrestored

– My joyful town!

²⁶That is why its young men will fall in its streets,

And all the warriors will be cut down,

On that day,

Says the Lord of hosts.

²⁷And I will light a fire at the wall of Damascus,

And it will consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”

²⁸To Kedar and to the kingdoms of Hazor which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon attacked. This is what the Lord says:

“Arise, go up to Kedar,

And plunder the easterners.

²⁹Let them take their tents and their sheep;

Let them transport their curtains and all their equipment and their camels,

So that they shout to them,

‘There is terror all around.’

³⁰Flee, take flight urgently;

Live in a deep place,

You inhabitants of Hazor,

Says the Lord,

For Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has decided on a course of action against you,

And he has devised a stratagem opposing you.

³¹Arise, go up to a nation at ease

And dwelling in confidence,

Says the Lord,

Without doors and not having a bolt.

They each dwell in a solitary way.

³²And their camels will be a spoil,

And the large quantity of their cattle will be plunder,

And I will scatter them to every wind

– Those who have had their sidelocks cut –

And I will bring about their downfall

From every side of it,

Says the Lord.

³³And Hazor will become a den of jackals

– An age-abiding desolation.

No man will live there,

And no son of Adam will reside in it.”

³⁴The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the start of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, which said,

³⁵“This is what the Lord of hosts says:

‘I am about to break Elam's bow

– The principal source of their strength.

³⁶And I will bring the four winds

From the four ends of the skies on Elam,

And I will scatter them by all these winds,

And there will be no nation

Where those driven out of Elam do not go.

³⁷And I will terrify Elam

When they face their enemies

And when they face those who seek their life.

And I will bring trouble on them

– The fury of my wrath –

Says the Lord,

And I will send the sword after them

Until I have finished them off.

³⁸And I will place my throne in Elam,

And I will eradicate the king and officials from there,

Says the Lord.

³⁹But it will come to pass in the latter days

That I will reverse the captivity of Elam,

Says the Lord.’ ”