1Concerning the Ammonites, Yahweh says: “Does Israel have no children? Does he have no heir? Why then does Malcam own Gad, and his people live in its cities?
2Therefore, listen, the time is coming,” says Yahweh, “when I will make the sound of war heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a desolate ruin, and its villages will be burned with fire. Then Israel will take back what was taken from them,” says Yahweh.
3“Cry out, Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed! Weep, people of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth. Mourn, and run back and forth within your walls; for Malcam will be taken captive, along with his priests and his leaders.
4Why do you boast about your valleys, your fertile valley, you disloyal people? You trusted in your treasures, saying, ‘No one will attack me.’
5Listen, I will bring terror upon you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, “from everyone around you. You will all be scattered, and there will be no one to gather the fugitives.”
6“But afterward, I will bring back the captives of the Ammonites,” says Yahweh.
7Concerning Edom, Yahweh of Armies says: “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Has good judgment disappeared from the wise? Has their wisdom vanished?
8Flee! Turn back! Hide in deep places, people of Dedan; for I will bring disaster upon Esau when I punish him.
9If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some grapes behind? If thieves came at night, wouldn't they steal only until they had enough?
10But I have stripped Esau bare. I have uncovered his hidden places, so he cannot hide. His descendants are destroyed, along with his relatives and neighbors; he is no more.
11Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive. Let your widows trust in me.”
12For Yahweh says: “Look, those who were not meant to drink from the cup of suffering will certainly drink. And do you think you will escape punishment completely? You will not go unpunished; you will surely drink from it.”
13“For I have sworn by myself,” says Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become a place of horror, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse. All its cities will be permanently desolate.”
14I have received a message from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent to the nations, saying, “Gather yourselves! Attack her! Prepare for battle!”
15“Look, I have made you insignificant among the nations, despised by people.
16Your own arrogance and pride have tricked you, you who live in the rocky cliffs, who control the high ground. Even if you build your nest as high as an eagle, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
17“Edom will be ruined. Everyone who passes by will be shocked and will react with disgust at all its destruction.
18Just like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities,” says Yahweh, “no one will live there; no human will reside in it.”
19“Look, he will rise up like a lion from the thickets along the Jordan against the secure pasture. I will suddenly drive them away from it, and I will appoint whomever I choose over it. For who is like me? Who can challenge me? What shepherd can stand against me?”
20Listen therefore to the plan Yahweh has made against Edom, and his intentions against the people of Teman: Surely, they will drag away even the little ones of the flock. Surely, he will make their homeland desolate because of them.
21The earth trembles at the sound of their fall; a cry is heard, its sound reaching the Red Sea.
22Look, he will come and swoop down like an eagle, spreading his wings against Bozrah. On that day, the bravest warriors of Edom will be as terrified as a woman in labor.
23Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are confused, for they have heard bad news; they have melted away in fear. There is distress by the sea; it cannot be calm.”
24Damascus has become weak; she turns to flee, and trembling has seized her. Anguish and pains have taken hold of her, like a woman in labor.
25How could the city of praise, the city of my joy, not be abandoned?
26Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day,” says Yahweh of Armies.
27“I will set a fire on the wall of Damascus, and it will burn down the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked. Yahweh says: “Go up to Kedar and destroy the people of the east.
29They will take their tents and their flocks. They will carry away their tent coverings, all their belongings, and their camels. People will shout to them, ‘Terror on every side!’”
30“Flee! Go far away! Live in remote places, you inhabitants of Hazor,” says Yahweh, “for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you and made plans to attack you.”
31“Go up against a nation that feels safe, that lives without worries,” says Yahweh, “that has no gates or bars, that lives by itself.
32Their camels will be taken as loot, and their many livestock as plunder. I will scatter to all directions those who trim the hair on their temples; and I will bring disaster upon them from every side,” says Yahweh.
33Hazor will become a den of jackals, a wasteland forever. No one will live there; no human will settle in it.”
34The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. It said:
35“The Lord of Armies says: ‘I will break Elam’s bow, the source of their power.
36I will bring the four winds from the four corners of the sky against Elam, and scatter its people to all those winds. There will not be a single nation where Elam’s exiles will not go.
37I will cause Elam to be afraid of their enemies, and of those who want to kill them. I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger,’ says Yahweh. ‘And I will send a sword after them until I have destroyed them.
38I will set my throne in Elam and destroy its king and princes from there,’ says Yahweh.
39"But in the future, I will bring the captives of Elam back," says Yahweh.