25“How the city of praise has not been deserted,
         The town of My joy!

26“Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets,
         And all the men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD of hosts.

27“I will set fire to the wall of Damascus,
         And it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.”

Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor

      28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the LORD,
         “Arise, go up to Kedar
         And devastate the men of the east.

29“They will take away their tents and their flocks;
         They will carry off for themselves
         Their tent curtains, all their goods and their camels,
         And they will call out to one another, ‘Terror on every side!’

30“Run away, flee! Dwell in the depths,
         O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares the LORD;
         “For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has formed a plan against you
         And devised a scheme against you.

31“Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease,
         Which lives securely,” declares the LORD.
         “It has no gates or bars;
         They dwell alone.

32“Their camels will become plunder,
         And their many cattle for booty,
         And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair;
         And I will bring their disaster from every side,” declares the LORD.

33“Hazor will become a haunt of jackals,
         A desolation forever;
         No one will live there,
         Nor will a son of man reside in it.”

Prophecy against Elam

      34That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

35“Thus says the LORD of hosts,
         ‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
         The finest of their might.

36‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds
         From the four ends of heaven,
         And will scatter them to all these winds;
         And there will be no nation
         To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37‘So I will shatter Elam before their enemies
         And before those who seek their lives;
         And I will bring calamity upon them,
         Even My fierce anger,’ declares the LORD,
         ‘And I will send out the sword after them
         Until I have consumed them.

38‘Then I will set My throne in Elam
         And destroy out of it king and princes,’
         Declares the LORD.

39‘But it will come about in the last days
         That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’”
         Declares the LORD.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Damascus has become helpless; She has turned away to flee, And panic has gripped her; Distress and pangs have taken hold of her Like a woman in childbirth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
The people of Damascus are weak. They turn to flee, but panic grips them. Anguish and pain grip them like a woman in labor.

King James Bible
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.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Damascus is undone, she is put to flight, trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in labour.

Darby Bible Translation
Damascus is grown feeble: she turneth herself to flee, and terror hath seized on her; trouble and sorrows have taken hold of her as of a woman in travail.

English Revised Version
Damascus is waxed feeble, she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

Webster's Bible Translation
Damascus hath become feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

World English Bible
Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

Young's Literal Translation
Feeble hath been Damascus, She turned to flee, and fear strengthened her, Distress and pangs have seized her, as a travailing woman.

Cross References

Matthew 24:8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Isaiah 13:8 They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.

Jeremiah 6:24 We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp. Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth.

Jeremiah 50:43 "The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands hang limp; Distress has gripped him, Agony like a woman in childbirth.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 23-27

The kingdom of Syria lay north of Canaan, as that of Edom lay south, and thither we must now remove and take a view of the approaching fate of that kingdom, which had been often vexatious to the Israel of God. Damascus was the metropolis of that kingdom, and the ruin of the whole is supposed in the ruin of that: yet Hamath and Arpad, two other considerable cities, are names (v. 23), and the palaces of Ben-hadad, which he built, are particularly marked for ruin, v. 27; see also Amos 1:4. Some think Ben-hadad (the son of Hadad, either their idol, or one of their ancient kings, whence the rest descended) was a common name of the kings of Syria, as Pharaoh of the kings of Egypt. Now observe concerning the judgment of Damascus, 1. It begins with a terrible fright and faint-heartedness. They hear evil tidings, that the king of Babylon, with all his force, is coming against them, and they are confounded; they know not what measures to take for their own safety, their souls are melted, they are faint-hearted, they have no spirit left them, they are like the troubled sea, that cannot be quiet (Isa. 57:20), or like men in a storm at sea (Ps. 17:26); or the sorrow that begins in the city shall go to the sea-coast, v. 23. See how easily God can dispirit those nations that have been most celebrated for valour. Damascus now waxes feeble (v. 24), a city that thought she could look the most formidable enemy in the face now turns herself to flee, and owns it is to no more purpose to think of contending with her fate than for a woman in labour to contend with her pains, which she cannot escape, but must yield to. It was a city of praise (v. 25), not praise to God, but to herself, a city much commended and admired by all strangers that visited it. It was a city of joy, where there was an affluence and confluence of all the delights of the sons of men, and abundance of mirth in the enjoyment of them. We read it (though there is no necessity for this) the city of my joy, which the prophet himself had sometimes visited with pleasure. Or it may be the speech of the king lamenting the ruin of the city of his joy. But now it is all overwhelmed with fear and grief. Note, Those deceive themselves who place their happiness in carnal joys; for God in his providence can soon cast a damp upon them and put an end to them. He can soon make a city of praise to be a reproach and a city of joy to be a terror to itself. 2. It ends with a terrible fall and fire. (1.) The inhabitants are slain (v. 26): The young men, who should fight the enemy and defend the city, shall fall by the sword in her streets; and all the men of war, mighty men, expert in war, and engaged in the service of their country, shall be cut off. (2.) The city is laid in ashes (v. 27): The fire is kindled by the besiegers in the wall, but it shall devour all before it, the palaces of Ben-hadad particularly, where so much mischief had formerly been hatched against God's Israel, for which it is now thus visited.

Calvin's Commentary

24. 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.

24. Remissa est (vel, debilitata) Damascus; convertit se ad fugam; et tremor apprehendit eam; angustia et dolores tenuerunt eam tanquam parturientem.

The Prophet goes on with the same subject, for as the kingdom of Syria had flourished, and had been eminent in wealth and power, it was hardly credible that it could so soon be overthrown. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet, according to his usual manner, describes at large the ruin of that kingdom in order to confirm what he said.

He then says, relaxed, or weakened, is Damascus This verb, indeed, sometimes means to cease: he means that she was broken in strength. But under the name of this city, he includes, as it was stated yesterday, the whole kingdom of Syria, which was celebrated for its riches, largeness, and number of men. She turns, he says, to flight By these words he intimates that no safety remained for the Syrians except by fleeing into other countries. And it is a miserable safety when men cannot otherwise secure it than by a voluntary exile. He adds the reason, Trembling has laid hold on her, anguish and pangs have seized her as a woman in travail Whenever this comparison occurs in Scripture, some sudden and unexpected evil is intended. The Prophet then no doubt means that the ruin of Syria would be sudden; and he says this, that it might not trust in its own power, and that others might not think her to be beyond danger, because they saw that it was fortified by the number of its men, and by the abundance of all other things. It now follows, --

Jeremiah 49:2424. 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.

24. Remissa est (vel, debilitata) Damascus; convertit se ad fugam; et tremor apprehendit eam; angustia et dolores tenuerunt eam tanquam parturientem.

As the clock strikes, I will not proceed further.
PRAYER

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou settest before our eyes memorable judgments which ought to benefit us at this day, so that we may be kept under thy yoke and under the fear of thy law, -- O grant, that we may not grow hard at such threatenings, but anticipate thy wrath, and so submit to thee, that whatever thou denouncest on the ungodly may turn to our comfort, and for a cause of joy, when we know that the salvation of thy church is thus promoted, of which thou hast been pleased to regard and acknowledge us as members in thy Son our Lord. -- Amen.

Links

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Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament