4“How boastful you are about the valleys!
         Your valley is flowing away,
         O backsliding daughter
         Who trusts in her treasures, saying,
         ‘Who will come against me?’

5“Behold, I am going to bring terror upon you,”
         Declares the Lord GOD of hosts,
         “From all directions around you;
         And each of you will be driven out headlong,
         With no one to gather the fugitives together.

6“But afterward I will restore
         The fortunes of the sons of Ammon,”
         Declares the LORD.

Prophecy against Edom

7Concerning Edom.
         Thus says the LORD of hosts,
         “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?
         Has good counsel been lost to the prudent?
         Has their wisdom decayed?

8“Flee away, turn back, dwell in the depths,
         O inhabitants of Dedan,
         For I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him
         At the time I punish him.

9“If grape gatherers came to you,
         Would they not leave gleanings?
         If thieves came by night,
         They would destroy only until they had enough.

10“But I have stripped Esau bare,
         I have uncovered his hiding places
         So that he will not be able to conceal himself;
         His offspring has been destroyed along with his relatives
         And his neighbors, and he is no more.

11“Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;
         And let your widows trust in Me.”

      12For thus says the LORD, “Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drink it, and are you the one who will be completely acquitted? You will not be acquitted, but you will certainly drink it. 13“For I have sworn by Myself,” declares the LORD, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.”

14I have heard a message from the LORD,
         And an envoy is sent among the nations, saying,
         “Gather yourselves together and come against her,
         And rise up for battle!”

15“For behold, I have made you small among the nations,
         Despised among men.

16“As for the terror of you,
         The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,
         O you who live in the clefts of the rock,
         Who occupy the height of the hill.
         Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s,
         I will bring you down from there,” declares the LORD.

      17“Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss at all its wounds. 18“Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will live there, nor will a son of man reside in it. 19“Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make him run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

      20Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has planned against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. 21The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea. 22Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

Prophecy against Damascus

23Concerning Damascus.
         “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,
         For they have heard bad news;
         They are disheartened.
         There is anxiety by the sea,
         It cannot be calmed.

24“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.

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)
"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament, And rush back and forth inside the walls; For Malcam will go into exile Together with his priests and his princes.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Cry loudly, Heshbon, because Ai is destroyed. Cry, people of Rabbah, put on your sackcloth, and mourn. Run back and forth between the walls. Milcom will be taken away into captivity with its priests and officials.

King James Bible
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.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Howl, O Hesebon, for Hai is wasted. Cry, ye daughters of Rabbath, gird yourselves with haircloth: mourn and go about by the hedges: for Melchom shall be carried into captivity, his priests, and his princes together.

Darby Bible Translation
Howl, Heshbon! for Ai is laid waste; cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth, lament and run to and fro within the enclosures: for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

English Revised Version
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run to and fro among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

Webster's Bible Translation
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste: 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.

World English Bible
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 shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

Young's Literal Translation
Howl, Heshbon, for spoiled is Ai, Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth, Lament, and go to and fro by the hedges, For Malcam into captivity doth go, His priests and his princes together.

Cross References

Joshua 7:2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

Joshua 8:1 Now the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

2 Samuel 11:1 Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

Ezra 2:28 the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;

Isaiah 32:11 Tremble, you women who are at ease; Be troubled, you complacent daughters; Strip, undress and put sackcloth on your waist,

Jeremiah 46:25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says, "Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him.

Jeremiah 48:2 "There is praise for Moab no longer; In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: 'Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!' You too, Madmen, will be silenced; The sword will follow after you.

Jeremiah 48:7 "For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures, Even you yourself will be captured; And Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his princes.

Jeremiah 48:37 "For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins.

Amos 1:15 "Their king will go into exile, He and his princes together," says the LORD.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Chapter 49

The cup of trembling still goes round, and the nations must all drink of it, according to the instructions given to Jeremiah, ch. 25:15. This chapter puts it into the hands, I. Of the Ammonites (v. 1-6). II. Of the Edomites (v. 7-22). III. Of the Syrians (v. 23-27). IV. Of the Kedarenes, and the kingdoms of Hazor (v. 28-33). V. Of the Elamites (v. 34-39). When Israel was scarcely saved where shall all these appear?

Verses 1-6

The Ammonites were next, both in kindred and neighbourhood, to the Moabites, and therefore are next set to the bar. Their country joined to that of the two tribes and a half, on the other side Jordan, and was but a bad neighbour; however, being a neighbour, they shall have a share in these circular predictions. 1. An action is here brought, in God's name, against the Ammonites, for an illegal encroachment upon the rightful possessions of the tribe of Gad, that lay next them, v. 1. A writ of enquiry is brought to discover what title they had to those territories, which, upon the carrying away of the Gileadites, by the king of Assyria (2 Ki. 15:29, 1 Chr. 5:26), were left almost dispeopled, at least unguarded, and an easy prey to the next invader. "What! Does it escheat ob defectum sanguinis-for what of an heir? Hath Israel no sons? Hath he no heir? Are there no Gadites left, to whom the right of inheritance belongs? Or, if there were not, are there no Israelites, none left of Judah, that are nearer akin to them than you are?" Why then does their king, as if he were entitled to the forfeited estates, or Milcom, their idol, as if he had the right to dispose of it to his worshippers, inherit Gad, and his people dwell in the cities which fell by lot to that tribe of God's people. Nay, there were sons and heirs of their own body, en ventre de sa mere-in their mother's womb, and the Ammonites, to prevent their claim, most barbarously murdered them (Amos 1:13): They ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border, that, having seized it, none might rise up hereafter to recover it from them. Thus they magnified themselves against their border and boasted it was their own, Zep. 2:8. Note, Though among men might often prevails against right, yet that might shall be controlled by the Almighty, who sits in the throne, judging right; and those will find themselves mistaken who think every thing their own which they can lay their hands on, or which none yet appears to lay claim to. As there is justice owing to owners, so also to their heirs, when they are dead, whom it is a great sin to defraud, though they either know not their right or know not how to come at it. This shall be reckoned for particularly, when injuries of this kind are done to God's people. 2. Judgment is here given against them for this violence. (1.) Terrors shall come upon them: God will cause an alarm of war to be heard, even in Rabbah, their capital city and a very strong one, v. 2. The Lord God of hosts, who has all armies at his command, will bring a fear upon them from all that be about them, v. 5. Note, God has many ways to terrify those who have been a terror to his people. (2.) Their cities shall be laid in ruins: Rabbah, the mother-city, shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters, the other cities that have a dependence upon her, and receive law from her as daughters, shall be burnt with fire; so that the inhabitants shall be forced to quit them, and they shall cry, and gird themselves with sackcloth, as having lost all they had, and not knowing whither to betake themselves. (3.) Their country, which they were so proud of, shall be wasted (v. 4): Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, and trustest in thy treasures, O backsliding daughter? They are charged with backsliding or turning away from God and from his worship, for they were the posterity of righteous Lot. It is true, they had never been so in covenant with God as Israel was; yet all idolaters may be called backsliders, for the worship of the true God was prior to that of false gods. They were untoward and refractory (so some read it); and, when they had forsaken their God, they gloried in their valleys, particularly one that was called the flowing valley, because it flowed with all good things. These they had violently taken away from Israel, and gloried in it when they had done so. They gloried in the strength of their valleys, so surrounded with mountains that they were inaccessible, gloried in the products of them, gloried in the treasures they got together out of them, saying, Who shall come unto me? While they bathed themselves in the pleasures of their country, they flattered themselves with a conceit that they should never be disturbed in the enjoyment of them: To-morrow shall be as this day; therefore they set God and his judgments at defiance; they are proud, voluptuous, and secure; but wherefore dost thou do so: Note, Those who backslide and turn away from God have little reason either to take complacency or to put confidence in any worldly enjoyments whatsoever, Hos. 9:1. (4.) Their people, from the least to the greatest, shall be forced out of the country. Some shall flee to seek for shelter, others shall be carried into captivity, so that their land shall be quite evacuated: Their king and his princes, nay, and Milcom, their god, and his priests, shall go into captivity (v. 3), and every man shall be driven out right forth, shall take the next way, and make the best of it in his flight (v. 5), forgetting the valleys, the flowing valleys, which now fail them. And, to complete their misery, none shall gather up him that wanders, none shall open their doors to them, as Jael to Sisera, to entertain them; and those that flee shall be so much in care to secure themselves that they shall not take notice of others, no, not of those that are nearest to them, that wander, and are at a loss which way to go, as ch. 47:3. (5.) Then the country of the Ammonites shall fall into the hands of the remaining Israelites (v. 2): Then shall Israel be heir to those that were his heirs, shall possess himself of their land who had possessed themselves of his, by way of reprisal. Note, The equity of divine Providence is to be acknowledged when the losses of the injured are recompensed out of the unjust gains of the injurious. Though the enemies of God's Israel may make a prey of them for a while, the tables will shortly be turned. 3. Yet there is a prospect given them of mercy hereafter (v. 6), as before to Moab. The day will come when the captivity of the children of Ammon will be brought again; for so it is in human affairs: the wheel goes round.

Calvin's Commentary

3. 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.

3. Ulula Chesbon, quoniam vastata est Hai; vociferamini filiae Rabbath, accingite vos saccis, plangite, discurrite per sepes, quoniam rex eorum in captivitatem profectus est, et sacerdotes ejus et principes cum ipso.

The Prophet now triumphs, as it were, over the land of Ammon, and, according to his accustomed manner, as we have before seen; for had the prophets spoken without metaphors, and simply narrated the things treated of by them, their words would have been frigid and inefficient, and would not have penetrated into the hearts of men. This, then, is the reason why the prophets adopted an elevated style, and adorned with grandeur their prophecies; for they never, like rhetoricians, affected eloquence, but necessity so urged them, that they represented to the eyes those things which they could not otherwise form a conception of in their minds. On this subject we have spoken often already; but I am again constrained briefly to touch on it, because those who are not well acquainted with Scripture, and do not understand the design of the Holy Spirit, may think that words only are here poured forth. But when we duly weigh what I have said, then we shall readily acknowledge that the Prophet did not, without reason, enlarge on what he had previously said.

Howl, thou Heshbon, he says, for Ai is laid waste These were two neighboring cities: hence he exhorts Heshbon to howl on seeing the overthrow of another city. He then adds, Cry, or cry aloud, ye daughters of Rabbah He again repeats what he had before touched upon as to the city Rabbah. Gird yourselves, he says, with sackcloth, or put on sackcloth. He does not here exhort the citizens of Rabbah to repentance, but he speaks according to the customs of the people, as it has been stated elsewhere. Sackcloth was, indeed, a symbol of penitence; when the miserable wished humbly to flee to God's mercy, and to confess their sins, they put on sackcloth. But the unbelieving imitated the faithful without discretion or judgment. Hence it was, that they scattered ashes on their heads, that without any reason they put on sackcloth. What was then commonly done is now mentioned by Jeremiah; Put on sackcloth, he says, lament and run here and there by the fences

He afterwards adds in the third person, for gone is their king into captivity. He expressed this, that the Israelites might know, that though that kingdom flourished for a time, yet the day of which the Prophet had spoken would come, when the condition of the Ammonites would be nothing better than that of the Israelites; whose king, as it was known, had been driven into exile, together with the priests and princes. The Prophet now denounces the same punishment on the Ammonites, that not only their king would be driven into another land, as a captive, but also their princes and their priests. It follows --

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Alphabetical: Ai and back been Cry daughters destroyed exile for forth Gird go has here Heshbon his inhabitants inside into is lament Malcam Molech mourn O of officials on out priests princes Put Rabbah rush sackcloth the there together Wail walls will with yourselves

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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