In the shadows of the walls of Heshbon those trying to escape will stand helpless. For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon. Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon. They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab, the skulls of those war-loving people.

Woe to thee, Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone; for thy sons are taken away in captivity, and thy daughters are captives.

And I have turned back to the captivity of Moab, In the latter end of the days, An affirmation of Jehovah! Hitherto is the judgment of Moab.

Concerning the sons (descendants) of Ammon.

Thus says the Lord:
“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?
Has he no heir?
Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad
And [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith 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 shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.

Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you 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.

“Why do you boast of your valleys?
Your valley is flowing away,
[O Ammon] rebellious and faithless daughter
Who trusts in her treasures, saying,
‘Who will come against me?’

Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, from all that are round about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.

Yet in days to come I will reverse Ammon's ill fortune." says the Lord.

About Edom. This is what the Lord of armies has said. Is there no more wisdom in Teman? have wise suggestions come to an end among men of good sense? has their wisdom completely gone?

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.

If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.

But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

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

For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

For I solemnly swear," says the Lord, "that Bozrah will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever."

I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

The Lord says to Edom, "I will certainly make you small among nations. I will make you despised by all humankind.

As to the terror you cause,
your presumptuous heart has deceived you.
You who live in the clefts of the rock,
you who occupy the mountain summit,
though you elevate your nest like the eagle,
even from there I will bring you down.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

"Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by it will be filled with horror; they will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it.

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?

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?

The people of the earth will quake when they hear of their downfall. Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba.

Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Concerning Damascus. Hamath is put to shame, and Arpad; for they have heard evil tidings, they are melted away: there is distress on the sea; it cannot be quiet.

Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.

I will set fire to the wall of Damascus;
it will consume Ben-hadad’s citadels.

Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.

Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side.

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.

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.

And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; and I will scatter to every wind them that have the corners of their beard cut off, and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith Jehovah.

And Hazor was for a dwelling of jackals, a desolation even to forever: a man shall not dwell there, and the son of man shall not sojourn in it

The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Look, I [am] going to break the bow of Elam, the first and best of their might.

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.

For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:

I will put the seat of my power in Elam, and in Elam I will put an end to kings and rulers, says the Lord.

But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.

For out of the north a nation (Media) has come against her which will make her land desolate, and no one will live there. They have fled, they have gone away—both man and animal.

In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Come in do sons of Israel, They and sons of Judah together, Going on and weeping they go, And Jehovah their God they seek.

They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.

“All who found them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty,
Because they have sinned against the Lord [and are no longer holy to Him], their [true] habitation of righteousness and justice,
Even the Lord, the [confident] hope of their fathers.’

"People of Judah, get out of Babylon quickly! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be the first to depart! Be like the male goats that lead the herd.

For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.

Because you are glad, because you are lifted up with pride, you wasters of my heritage, because you are playing like a young cow put out to grass, and you make a noise like strong horses;

your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she that bare you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

Because of the anger of the LORD she won't be inhabited, but will be utterly devastated. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified and will scoff because of all her wounds.

Line up in battle formation around Babylon,
all you archers!
Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow,
for she has sinned against the Lord.

Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

"Israel is a scattered flock, driven out by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria, and then afterward King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnawed his bones.

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] going to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.

And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.

In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Sought is the iniquity of Israel, and it is not, And the sin of Judah, and it is not found, For I am propitious to those whom I leave!

Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

How is the hammer of all the earth cut in two and broken! how has Babylon become a waste among the nations!

I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren't aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against Yahweh.

Jehovah hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

Come ye in to her from the extremity, Open ye her storehouses, Raise her up as heaps, and devote her, Let her have no remnant.

Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.

Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.

Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

The arrogant will stumble and fall
with no one to pick him up.
I will set fire to his cities,
and it will consume everything around him.”

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

A sword upon the Chaldeans, says Jehovah, and to the inhabitants of Babel and to her chiefs, and to her wise.

A sword, is against the praters, And they shall be shewn to be foolish, A sword, is against her heroes And they shall be dismayed:

A sword is on their horses and their chariots, and on all the mixed people in her midst; and they shall become as women. A sword is to her treasuries, and they shall be robbed.

A sword is on her waters, and they have been dried up, For it is a land of graven images, And in idols they do boast themselves.

Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

Look, a people [is] about to come from [the] north, and a great nation and many kings are woken up from [the] remotest part of [the] earth.

They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear when he hears news of their coming. Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

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 them to run from off her. And who is chosen? on her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? And who doth convene Me? And who is this shepherd who standeth before Me?

Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He counselled concerning Babylon, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the land of the Chaldeans; Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Doth He not make desolate over them the habitation?

At the cry, Babylon is taken! the earth is shaking, and the cry comes to the ears of the nations.

Thus says Yahweh: "Look, I [am] going to stir up against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind.

And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

Let not the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have ye pity on her young men, Devote ye to destruction all her host.

Indeed, Israel and Judah haven't been abandoned by their God, by the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, although their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel."

Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, And deliver ye each his soul, Be not cut off in its iniquity, For a time of vengeance it is to Jehovah, Recompence He is rendering to her.

A golden cup is Babylon in the hand of Jehovah, Making drunk all the earth, Of its wine drunk have nations, Therefore boast themselves do nations.

Babylon has suddenly fallen and is shattered!
Wail for her [if you care to]!
Get balm for her [incurable] pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.

Set up a signal on the walls of Babylon [to spread the news];
Post a strong blockade,
Station the guards,
Prepare the men for ambush!
For the Lord has both purposed and done
That which He spoke against the people of Babylon.

"You who live along the rivers of Babylon, the time of your end has come. You who are rich in plundered treasure, it is time for your lives to be cut off.

When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

They are worthless, a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.

An axe art thou to me -- weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces by thee nations, And I have destroyed by thee kingdoms,

I used you to smash horses and their riders. I used you to smash chariots and their drivers.

I used you to smash men and women. I used you to smash old men and young men. I used you to smash young men and young women.

I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks. I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen. I used you to smash governors and leaders."