Day 307 of 730

¹Of the children of Ammon. "Thus says the Lord: 'Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?

²Therefore 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 shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who possessed him,' says the Lord.

³'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.

⁴Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You who trusted in her treasures, saying, "Who shall come to me?"

⁵Behold, I will bring a fear on you,' says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, 'from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.

⁶But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon,' says the Lord."

⁷Of Edom. "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?

⁸Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.

⁹If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough?

¹⁰But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more.

¹¹Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.'

¹²For thus says the Lord: 'Behold, they to whom it did not pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.

¹³For I have sworn by myself,' says the Lord, 'that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.'"

¹⁴I have heard news from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle."

¹⁵"For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men.

¹⁶As 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.

¹⁷"Edom shall become an astonishment: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues.

¹⁸As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it," says the Lord, "no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein.

¹⁹Behold, he shall 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, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? And who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who will stand before me?

²⁰Therefore 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 shall drag them away, the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.

²¹The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.

²²Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs."

²³Of Damascus. "Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can't be quiet.

²⁴Damascus 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.

²⁵How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?

²⁶Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day," says the Lord of hosts.

²⁷"I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben Hadad."

²⁸Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. "Thus says the Lord: 'Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.'

²⁹Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, 'Terror on every side!'

³⁰Flee, 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."

³¹"Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says the Lord; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.

³²Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and 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.

³³"Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein."

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

³⁵"Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

³⁶On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

³⁷I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; and 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;

³⁸and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes,' says the Lord.

³⁹'But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,' says the Lord."

¹The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.

²"Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and do not conceal: say, 'Babylon is taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed; her images are disappointed, her idols are dismayed.

³For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal.

⁴In those days, and in that time,' says the Lord, 'the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek the Lord their God.

⁵They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, "Come, and join yourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten."

⁶My people have 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 resting place.

⁷All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, "We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of righteousness, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers."

⁸Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks.

⁹For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.

¹⁰Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey on her shall be satisfied,' says the Lord.'

¹¹Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;

¹²your mother shall be utterly disappointed; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

¹³Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

¹⁴"Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against the Lord.

¹⁵Shout against her all around: she has submitted herself; her towers are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.

¹⁶Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land."'

¹⁷'Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.

¹⁸Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

¹⁹I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.

²⁰In those days, and in that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant."'"

²¹"Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them," says the Lord, "and do according to all that I have commanded you.

²²A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.

²³How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

²⁴I 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 the Lord.

²⁵The Lord has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶Come against her from the utmost border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.

²⁷Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation."

²⁸The voice of those who 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.

²⁹"Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her all around; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

³⁰Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all her men of war will be brought to silence in that day," says the Lord.

³¹"Behold, I am against you, you proud one," says the Lord, the Lord of hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will visit you.

³²The proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are around him."

³³Thus says the Lord of hosts: "The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.

³⁴Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵A sword is on the Chaldeans," says the Lord, "and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men.

³⁶A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.

³⁷A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.

³⁸A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they glory over idols.

³⁹Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation.

⁴⁰As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it," says the Lord, "so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein."

⁴¹"Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

⁴²They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.

⁴³The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴Behold, the enemy shall 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, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? And who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who can stand before me?"

⁴⁵Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: "Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.

⁴⁶At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations."

¹Lord, my God, I take refuge in you. Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,

²lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

³Lord, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands,

⁴if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, if I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary),

⁵let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

⁶Arise, Lord, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.

⁷Let the congregation of the peoples surround you. Rule over them on high.

⁸The Lord administers judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Lord, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me.

⁹Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

¹⁰My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.

¹¹God is a righteous judge, yes, a God who has indignation every day.

¹²If a man doesn't relent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow.

¹³He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death. He makes ready his flaming arrows.

¹⁴Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

¹⁵He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made.

¹⁶The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

¹⁷I will give thanks to the Lord according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

¹The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

²In rebellion, a land has many rulers, but order is maintained by a man of understanding and knowledge.

³A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.

⁴Those who forsake the Law praise the wicked; but those who keep the Law contend with them.

⁵Evil men do not understand justice; but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.

⁶Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is perverse in his ways, and he is rich.

⁷Whoever keeps the Law is a wise son; but he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.

⁸He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.

⁹He who turns away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.

¹⁰Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he will fall into his own trap; but the blameless will inherit good.

¹¹The rich man is wise in his own eyes; but the poor who has understanding sees through him.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

¹³He who conceals his sins doesn't prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

¹⁴Blessed is the man who always fears; but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

¹⁵As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people.

¹⁶A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment. One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days.

¹⁷A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.

¹⁸Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.

¹⁹One who works his land will have an abundance of food; but one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

²⁰A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

²¹To show partiality is not good; yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.

²²A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn't know that poverty waits for him.

²³One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue.

²⁴Whoever robs his father or his mother, and says, "It's not wrong." He is a partner with a destroyer.

²⁵One who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in the Lord will prosper.

²⁶One who trusts in himself is a fool; but one who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

²⁷One who gives to the poor has no lack; but one who closes his eyes will have many curses.

²⁸When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous thrive.