Jeremiah 49
In Jeremiah 49, God’s judgment prophecies concerning various Gentile peoples continue. In this chapter, messages of each people’s wrongdoing and God’s corresponding judgment are mainly directed to the Ammonites, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, and Elam. Jeremiah 46–51 are a series of farewell prophecies in which judgment on the Gentile nations is announced, and chapter 49 can also be considered part of that.
1verseOf the children of Ammon. The LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?
2verseTherefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and it will become a desolate heap, and her daughters will be burned with fire; then Israel will possess those who possessed him,” says the LORD.
3verse“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourself in sackcloth. Lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam will go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
4verseWhy do you boast in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come to me?’
5verseBehold, I will bring a terror on you,” says the Lord, GOD of Armies, “from all who are around you. All of you will be driven completely out, and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives.
6verse“But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,” says the LORD.
7verseOf Edom, the LORD of Armies says: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?
8verseFlee! Turn back! Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him.
9verseIf grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had enough?
10verseBut I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he will not be able to hide himself. His offspring is destroyed, with his brothers and his neighbors; and he is no more.
11verseLeave your fatherless children. I will preserve them alive. Let your widows trust in me.”
12verseFor the LORD says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished, but you will surely drink.
13verseFor I have sworn by myself,” says the LORD, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.”
14verseI have heard news from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, “Gather yourselves together! Come against her! Rise up to the battle!”
15verse“For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men.
16verseAs for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill, though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,” says the LORD.
17verse“Edom will become an astonishment. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its plagues.
18verseAs in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says the LORD, “no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein.
19verse“Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it. For who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?”
20verseTherefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom, and his purposes that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they will drag them away, the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them.
21verseThe earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.
22verseBehold, he will come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah. The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23verseOf Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard evil news. They have melted away. There is sorrow on the sea. It can’t be quiet.
24verseDamascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.
25verseHow is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?
26verseTherefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says the LORD of Armies.
27verse“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
28verseOf Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck, The LORD says: “Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.
29verseThey will take their tents and their flocks. they will carry away for themselves their curtains, all their vessels, and their camels; and they will cry to them, ‘Terror on every side!’
30verseFlee! Wander far off! Dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor,” says the LORD; “for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you.
31verseArise! Go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care,” says the LORD; “that has neither gates nor bars, that dwells alone.
32verseTheir camels will be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a plunder. I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them,” says the LORD.
33verseHazor will be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever. No man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein.”
34verseThe LORD’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35verse“The LORD of Armies says: ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
36verseI will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds. There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come.
37verseI will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,’ says the LORD; ‘and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.
38verseI will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes,’ says the LORD.
39verse‘But it will happen in the latter days that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says the LORD.”
Main Content and Flow
- Ammon (verses 1–6): You point out the sin of the descendants of Ammon taking possession of Israel’s land; you warn of ruin and captivity, but you also include promises of restoration after judgment.
- Edom (verses 7–22): You emphasize that Edom’s high status and wisdom are powerless before God, and you proclaim that judgment is unavoidable. In particular, you inform them that their arrogance and the strength they trusted will collapse.
- Damascus (verses 23–27): You speak of the fear, chaos, and destruction facing Damascus and the surrounding cities, warning that the actively thriving towns will be burned and become ruins.
- Kedar and Hazor (verses 28–33): Even the nomadic peoples Kedar and Hazor will see the collapse of the peace they relied on and of the people themselves, and you foretell that fear and desolation will come.
- Elam (verses 34–39): In the final prophecy concerning Elam, you promise that although great calamity and scattering will occur, restoration will come for those who are later taken into captivity.
Meditation Points
- God’s judgment is not biased, and it is consistently applied to the wickedness of every nation and individual.
- Between God’s warnings and judgment, promises of restoration are also given. From this, we can see both God’s justice and mercy at the same time.
- We can remember how futile it is for people to rely only on their own strength, their circumstances, or their traditions—and ultimately that everything is under God’s sovereignty.
Putting It into Practice in My Life
- Rather than clinging to the things I have relied on (such as confidence, circumstances, possessions, etc.), I am led to reflect on the need for a life that humbly asks for God’s will and obeys it.
- Realizing that the message of God’s judgment and restoration is God’s love and justice toward me and toward our society, I should also cultivate the desire to put God’s will into practice in today’s life.
