¹ Concerning the sons of Ammon: `Thus said Jehovah: Sons -- hath Israel none? heir -- hath he none? Wherefore hath Malcam possessed Gad? And his people in its cities have dwelt?

² Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sounded unto Rabbah of the sons of Ammon a shout of battle, And it hath been for a heap -- a desolation, And her daughters with fire are burnt, And Israel hath succeeded its heirs, Said hath Jehovah.

³ Howl, Heshbon, for spoiled is Ai, Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth, Lament, and go to and fro by the hedges, For Malcam into captivity doth go, His priests and his princes together.

⁴ What -- dost thou boast thyself in valleys? Flowed hath thy valley, O backsliding daughter, Who is trusting in her treasures: Who doth come in unto me?

⁵ Lo, I am bringing in upon thee a fear, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, From all round about thee, And ye have been driven out each before it, And there is no gatherer of the wandering.

⁶ And after this I turn back the captivity of the sons of Ammon, An affirmation of Jehovah.'

⁷ Concerning Edom: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Perished hath counsel from the intelligent? Vanished hath their wisdom?

⁸ Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, ye inhabitants of Dedan, For the calamity of Esau I brought in upon him, The time I inspected him.

⁹ If gatherers have come in to thee, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency!

¹⁰ For I -- I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And to be hidden he is not able, Spoiled [is] his seed, and his brethren, And his neighbours, and he is not.

¹¹ Leave thine orphans -- I do keep alive, And thy widows -- on Me trust ye,

¹² For thus said Jehovah: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And thou [art] he that is entirely acquitted! Thou art not acquitted, for thou certainly drinkest.

¹³ For, by Myself, I have sworn, An affirmation of Jehovah, That for a desolation, for a reproach, For a waste, and for a reviling -- is Bozrah, And all her cities are for wastes age-during.

¹⁴ A report I have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations is sent, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise ye for battle.

¹⁵ For, lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised among men.

¹⁶ Thy terribleness hath lifted thee up, The pride of thy heart, O dweller in clefts of the rock, Holding the high place of the height, For thou makest high as an eagle thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah.

¹⁷ And Edom hath been for a desolation, Every passer by her is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues.

¹⁸ As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbours, said Jehovah, No one doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.

¹⁹ Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? concerning her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? and who conveneth Me? And who [is] this shepherd who standeth before Me?

²⁰ Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He hath counselled concerning Edom, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Make desolate over them doth he not their habitation?

²¹ From the noise of their fall hath the earth shaken, The cry -- at the sea of Suph is its voice heard.

²² Lo, as an eagle he cometh up, and flieth, And he spreadeth his wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom hath been in that day, As the heart of a distressed woman!'

²³ Concerning Damascus: Ashamed hath been Hamath and Arpad, For an evil report they have heard, They have been melted, in the sea [is] sorrow, To be quiet it is not able.

²⁴ Feeble hath been Damascus, She turned to flee, and fear strengthened her, Distress and pangs have seized her, as a travailing woman.

²⁵ How is it not left -- the city of praise, The city of my joy!

²⁶ Therefore fall do her young men in her broad places, And all the men of war are cut off in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

²⁷ And I have kindled a fire against the wall of Damascus, And it consumed palaces of Ben-Hadad!'

²⁸ Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten: `Thus said Jehovah: Arise ye, go ye up unto Kedar, And spoil the sons of the east.

²⁹ Their tents and their flock they do take, Their curtains, and all their vessels, And their camels, they bear away for themselves, And they called concerning them, Fear [is] round about.

³⁰ Flee, bemoan mightily, go deep to dwell, Ye inhabitants of Hazor -- an affirmation of Jehovah, For given counsel against you hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Yea, he deviseth against them a device.

³¹ Rise ye, go up unto a nation at rest, Dwelling confidently, an affirmation of Jehovah, It hath no two-leaved doors nor bar, Alone they do dwell.

³² And their camels have been for a prey, And the multitude of their cattle for a spoil, And I have scattered them to every wind, Who cut off the corner [of the beard], And from all its passages I bring in their calamity, An affirmation of Jehovah.

³³ And Hazor hath been for a habitation of dragons, A desolation -- unto the age, No one doth dwell there, nor sojourn in it doth a son of man!'

³⁴ That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

³⁵ `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning of their might.

³⁶ And I have brought in to Elam four winds, From the four ends of the heavens, And have scattered them to all these winds, And there is no nation whither outcasts of Elam come not in.

³⁷ And I have affrighted Elam before their enemies, And before those seeking their life, And I have brought in against them evil, The heat of Mine anger, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent after them the sword, Till I have consumed them;

³⁸ And I have set My throne in Elam, And I have destroyed thence King and princes -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

³⁹ And it hath come to pass, in the latter end of the days, I turn back [to] the captivity of Elam, An affirmation of Jehovah!'

¹ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

² `Go, and thou hast called in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus said Jehovah: I have remembered for thee The kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, Thy going after Me in a wilderness, in a land not sown.

³ Holy [is] Israel to Jehovah, The first-fruit of His increase, All consuming him are guilty, Evil cometh in unto them, an affirmation of Jehovah.

⁴ Hear a word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, And all ye families of the house of Israel.

⁵ Thus said Jehovah: What -- have your fathers found in Me perversity, That they have gone far off from Me, And go after the vanity, and become vain,

⁶ And have not said, Where [is] Jehovah, Who bringeth us up out of the land of Egypt, Who leadeth us in a wilderness, In a land of deserts and pits, In a dry land, and of death-shade, In a land -- none hath passed through it, Nor dwelt hath man there?'

⁷ Yea, I bring you in to a land of fruitful fields, To eat its fruit and its goodness, And ye come in and defile My land, And Mine inheritance have made an abomination.

⁸ The priests have not said, `Where [is] Jehovah?' And those handling the law have not known Me. And the shepherds transgressed against Me, And the prophets have prophesied by Baal, And after those who profit not have gone.

⁹ Therefore, yet I plead with you, An affirmation of Jehovah, And with your sons' sons I plead.

¹⁰ For, pass to the isles of Chittim, and see, And to Kedar send, and consider well, And see if there hath been like this:

¹¹ Hath a nation changed gods? (And they [are] no gods!) And My people hath changed its honour For that which doth not profit.

¹² Be astonished, ye heavens, at this, Yea, be frightened, be greatly wasted, An affirmation of Jehovah.

¹³ For two evils hath My people done, Me they have forsaken, a fountain of living waters, To hew out for themselves wells -- broken wells, That contain not the waters.

¹⁴ A servant [is] Israel? Is he a child of the house? Wherefore hath he been for a prey?

¹⁵ Against him roar do young lions, They have given forth their voice, And make his land become a desolation, His cities have been burnt without inhabitant.

¹⁶ Also sons of Noph and Tahapanes Consume thee -- the crown of the head!

¹⁷ Dost thou not do this to thyself? [By] thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, At the time He is leading thee in the way?

¹⁸ And now, what -- to thee in the way of Egypt, To drink the waters of Sihor? And what -- to thee in the way of Asshur, To drink the waters of the River?

¹⁹ Instruct thee doth thy wickedness, And thy backslidings reprove thee, Know and see that an evil and a bitter thing [Is] thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, And My fear not being on thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.

²⁰ For from of old thou hast broken thy yoke, Drawn away thy bands, and sayest, `I do not serve,' For, on every high height, and under every green tree, Thou art wandering -- a harlot.

²¹ And I planted thee a choice vine, wholly a true seed, And how hast thou been turned to Me, To the degenerate shoots of a strange vine?

²² But though thou dost wash with nitre, And dost multiply to thyself soap, Marked is thine iniquity before Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

²³ How sayest thou, `I have not been defiled, After the Baalim I have not gone?' See thy way in a valley, know what thou hast done, A swift dromedary winding her ways,

²⁴ A wild ass accustomed to a wilderness, In the desire of her soul she hath swallowed up wind, Her meeting -- who doth turn her back? None seeking her do weary themselves, In her month they find her.

²⁵ Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst, And thou sayest, `It is incurable, No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I go.'

²⁶ As the shame of a thief when he is found, So put to shame have been the house of Israel, They, their kings, their heads, And their priests, and their prophets,

²⁷ Saying to wood, `My father [art] thou!' And to a stone, `Thou hast brought me forth,' For they turned unto me the back and not the face, And in the time of their vexation, They say, `Arise Thou, and save us.'

²⁸ And where [are] thy gods, that thou hast made to thyself? Let them arise, if they may save thee, In the time of thy vexation, For -- the number of thy cities have been thy gods, O Judah,

²⁹ Why do ye strive with Me? All of you have transgressed against Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.

³⁰ In vain I have smitten your sons, Instruction they have not accepted, Devoured hath your sword your prophets, As a destroying lion.

³¹ O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah: A wilderness have I been to Israel? A land of thick darkness? Wherefore have My people said, `We mourned, We come not in again unto Thee.'

³² Doth a virgin forget her ornaments? A bride her bands? And My people have forgotten Me days without number.

³³ What -- dost thou make pleasing thy ways to seek love? Therefore even the wicked thou hast taught thy ways.

³⁴ Also in thy skirts hath been found the blood of innocent needy souls, Not by digging have I found them, but upon all these.

³⁵ And thou sayest, `Because I have been innocent, Surely turned back hath His anger from me?' Lo, I have been judged with thee, Because of thy saying, `I have not sinned.'

³⁶ What? thou art very vile to repeat thy way, Even of Egypt thou art ashamed, As thou hast been ashamed of Asshur,

³⁷ Also from this thou goest out, And thy hands on thy head, For Jehovah hath kicked at thy confidences, And thou dost not give prosperity to them!