Jeremiah 49:7-20

7The 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.

8You 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.

9If 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.

10But 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.

11But I will take care of your widows and the children who have no family. You can trust me to keep them safe.’

12The 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.

13I, 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.’

14I 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!’

15The Lord says to Edom's people, ‘I will make you a weak nation that nobody respects.

16You 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.

18Edom 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.

20So 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.