Dual Panel1CONCERNING {and} against the Ammonites: Thus says the Lord: Has Israel no sons [to return after their captivity and claim the territory of Gad east of the Jordan which the Ammonites have taken over]? Has [Israel's Gad] no heir? Why then has Milcom [the god the Ammonites call their king] dispossessed {and} inherited Gad, and [why do] his people dwell in Gad's cities?
2Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it [the high ground on which it stands] will become a desolate heap, and its daughter [villages] will be burned with fire. Then will Israel dispossess those who dispossessed him, says the Lord.
3Wail, O Heshbon [in Moab, just south of Ammon], for Ai [in Ammon] is laid waste! Cry out, you daughter [villages] of Rabbah! Gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament, and run to and fro inside the [sheepfold] enclosures; for Milcom [the god-king] shall go into exile, together with his priests and his princes.
4Why do you boast of your valleys? Your valley flows away, O [Ammon] rebellious {and} faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasures, who said, Who can come against me?
5Behold, I will bring terror upon you, says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, from all who are round about you; and you will be driven out, each man fleeing straight before him [without thought of his neighbor], and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives.
6And afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon {and} restore their fortunes, says the Lord.
7Concerning {and} against Edom: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman [a district in Edom]? Has counsel vanished from the intelligent {and} prudent? Is their wisdom all poured out {and} used up?
8Flee, turn back, dwell deep [in the deserts to escape the Chaldeans], O inhabitants of Dedan [neighbor of Edom]! For I will bring the calamity {and} destruction of Esau upon him [Edom] when I inspect {and} punish him.
9If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some ungleaned grapes? If thieves came by night, would they not destroy only what is enough [for them]?
10But I have stripped Esau (Edom) bare; I have uncovered his hiding places, and he cannot hide himself. His offspring will be destroyed, with his brethren and his neighbors; and he will be no more.
11Leave your fatherless children; I will [do what is necessary to] preserve them alive. And let [those who have been made] your widows trust {and} confide in Me.
12For thus says the Lord: Behold, they [Israel] whose rule was not to drink the cup [of wrath] shall assuredly drink--and are you to remain unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.
13For I have sworn by Myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah [in Edom, between Petra and the Dead Sea] shall become a horror, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.
14I have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger is sent to the nations, saying, Gather together and come against her! And rise up for the battle.
15For, behold, I will make you [Edom] small among the nations and despised among men.
16Your [object of] horror (your idol) has deceived you, and the pride of your heart [has deceived you], O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock [Sela or Petra], who hold {and} occupy the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's, I will bring you down from there, says the Lord.
17And Edom shall be an astonishment {and} a horror; everyone who goes by it shall be astonished {and} shall hiss with horror at all its plagues {and} disasters.
18As [it was] in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, says the Lord, no man shall dwell there; neither shall a son of man live in it temporarily.
19See, there comes up one [Nebuchadnezzar] like a lion from [lurking in] the jungles (the pride) of the Jordan against the strong habitation [of Edom] {and} into the permanent pastures; for in a twinkling I will drive him [Edom] from there. And I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me? And who will appoint for Me the time {and} prosecute Me for this proceeding? And what [earthly, national] shepherd can stand before Me {and} defy Me?
20Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has made against Edom, and His purposes which He has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall be dragged away [by Nebuchadnezzar], even the little ones of the flock; surely He shall make their habitation desolate because of them {and} their fold shocked at their fate.
21At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; at their crying the sound shall be heard at the Red Sea.
22Behold, one will come up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against [the Edomite city of] Bozrah; and in that day the hearts of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in her pangs [in childbirth].
23Concerning {and} against Damascus [in Syria]: Hamath and Arpad are confounded {and} put to shame, for they have heard bad news; they are fainthearted {and} wasting away; there is trouble {and} anxiety [like] on a [storm-tossed] sea which cannot rest.
24Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee, and terror {and} panic have seized her; anguish and sorrow have taken hold of her, like a woman in childbirth.
25How [remarkable that] the renowned city is not deserted, the city of my joy! [exclaims one from Damascus].
26Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, says the Lord of hosts.
27And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will consume the palaces of Ben-hadad [title of several kings of Syria].
28Concerning Kedar [a tribe of nomad Arabs] and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite: Thus says the Lord [to him]: Arise, go up against Kedar and destroy the sons of the east.
29Their tents and their flocks shall they [the Chaldeans] take--their tent hangings and all their utensils and their camels. And men shall cry to them, Terror on every side!
30Flee, wander far off, dwell deep [in the deserts], O you inhabitants of Hazor [in the Arabian Desert] says the Lord, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has planned a course against you and has conceived a purpose against you.
31Arise [Nebuchadrezzar], get up into a nation which is at ease, which dwells without care, says the Lord, [a nation] which has neither gates nor bars, which dwells apart {and} alone.
32And their camels will be booty, and their herds of cattle a spoil; and I will scatter to all [the four] winds those who [as evidence of their idolatry] clip off the corners of their hair, and I will bring their calamity from every side, says the Lord.
33And Hazor shall become a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever; no man shall dwell there; neither shall a son of man live in it temporarily.
34The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning {and} against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief [weapon and part] of their strength.
36And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four corners of heaven; and I will scatter them toward all those winds, and there will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not come.
37And I will cause Elam to be dismayed {and} terrified before their enemies and before those who seek {and} demand their lives; and I will bring evil {and} disaster upon them, even My fierce anger, says the Lord. And I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them.
38And I will set My throne [of judgment] in Elam [whose capital city was Shushan, from which God wrought wonders through Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel]; and I will destroy from their king and princes, says the Lord.
39But it shall be in the latter days (the end of days) that I will reverse the captivity and restore the fortunes of Elam, says the Lord.