Jeremiah 49:7-22

A message about Edom

7 The Lord Almighty gave this message about Edom:

‘It seems that wisdom has disappeared from Teman.

Edom's clever men have no good advice.

Their great ideas have gone away.

8 You people who live in Dedan, run away and escape!

Go and find somewhere safe to hide!

The time has come for me to punish Esau's descendants.

I will cause them to have terrible trouble.

9 If people came to pick your grapes,

they would leave a few grapes on the vines.

If robbers came at night to take your things,

they would only take the things that they needed.

10 But I will take everything from Esau's descendants,

so that they have nothing.

I will open their secret places,

so that they have nowhere to hide.

The enemy will destroy them and their children, family and friends.

None of them will remain alive.

11 But I will take care of your widows and the children who have no family.

You can trust me to keep them safe.’

12 The Lord says, ‘I had to punish even those people who did not deserve my great punishment. So you will certainly not escape my punishment! You will have to drink my anger from the cup that I give to you. 13 I, the Lord, promise you this, with the authority of my own name: Bozrah city will become a heap of stones. The people of other nations will think that it is disgusting. They will laugh at it. They will use its name as a curse. All the towns and villages around it will be heaps of stones for ever.’

14 I have heard a message from the Lord. He has sent someone with this message to the nations:

‘Prepare your armies to attack Edom.

Prepare to fight a battle against Edom!’

15 The Lord says to Edom's people,

‘I will make you a weak nation that nobody respects.

16 You are proud people.

You boast that you cause other people to be afraid of you.

But your thoughts have deceived you.

You live high up among the rocks,

and on the tops of mountains.

But I will bring you down from there,

even if you are as high as an eagle's nest.’

That is what the Lord says.

17 ‘People will see how disgusting Edom is. Everybody who goes there will be very surprised. They will see all the terrible trouble that has happened to the nation, and they will insult it.

18 Edom will become a heap of stones where nobody lives.

The same thing happened to Sodom and Gomorrah,

and the towns that were near them.

Edom will be as empty as a desert.’

That is what the Lord says.

19 ‘I will attack the people of Edom

and I will chase them out of their land.

I will be like a lion that has been hiding in the forest.

It attacks the sheep in the fields beside the Jordan River.

Like that lion, I will suddenly chase Edom's people out of their country.

Then I will choose a leader to rule that nation.

There is nobody who is like me.

Nobody can accuse me of anything.

No ruler can stand against me.

20 So listen to me, the Lord!

This is what I have decided to do to Edom.

Yes, this is the trouble that I will bring to the people who live in Teman.

Soldiers will catch their children and take them away,

like little lambs that they take from their mothers.

I will completely destroy their homes.

21 When Edom's people fall,

the noise will cause the whole earth to shake.

The sound of their sad voices will reach as far as the Red Sea.

22 A nation will rise up high, like an eagle in the sky.

It will fly down to catch its food in Bozrah!

When the brave soldiers of Edom see that, they will become very afraid.

They will be afraid, like a woman who will soon give birth.’