The Lord's Judgment on Ammon

49 ^(A)This is what the Lord said about Ammon: “Where are the men of Israel? Is there no one to defend their land? Why have they let the people who worship Molech take the territory of the tribe of Gad and settle there? ² But the time is coming when I will make the people of the capital city of Rabbah hear the noise of battle, and it will be left in ruins and its villages burned to the ground. Then Israel will take its land back from those who took it from them. ³ People of Heshbon, cry out! Ai is destroyed! Women of Rabbah, go into mourning! Put on sackcloth and mourn. Run about in confusion. Your god Molech will be taken into exile, together with his priests and princes. ⁴ Why do you unfaithful people boast? Your strength is failing. Why do you trust in your power and say that no one would dare attack you? ⁵ I will bring terror on you from every side. You will all run away. Each one will run for his life, and there will be no one to bring your troops together again.

⁶ “But later on I will make Ammon prosperous again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Prophecy against Ammon

25 ^(A)The Lord spoke to me. ² “Mortal man,” he said, “denounce the country of Ammon. ³ Tell them to listen to what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were delighted to see my Temple profaned, to see the land of Israel devastated, to see the people of Judah go into exile. ⁴ Because you were glad, I will let the tribes from the eastern desert conquer you. They will set up their camps in your country and settle there. They will eat the fruit and drink the milk that should have been yours. ⁵ I will turn the city of Rabbah into a place to keep camels, and the whole country of Ammon will become a place to keep sheep, so that you will know I am the Lord.

⁶ “This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: You clapped your hands and jumped for joy. You despised the land of Israel. ⁷ Because you did, I will hand you over to other nations who will rob you and plunder you. I will destroy you so completely that you will not be a nation any more or have a country of your own. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

God's Judgment on Israel's Neighbors

Syria

^3 (A)The Lord says, “The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They treated the people of Gilead with savage cruelty. ⁴ So I will send fire upon the palace built by King Hazael and I will burn down the fortresses of King Benhadad. ⁵ I will smash the city gates of Damascus and remove the inhabitants of Aven Valley and the ruler of Betheden. The people of Syria will be taken away as prisoners to the land of Kir.”

Philistia

^6 (B)The Lord says, “The people of Gaza have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation and sold them as slaves to the people of Edom. ⁷ So I will send fire upon the city walls of Gaza and burn down its fortresses. ⁸ I will remove the rulers of the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon. I will punish the city of Ekron, and all the Philistines who are left will die.”

Tyre

^9 (C)The Lord says, “The people of Tyre have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation into exile in the land of Edom, and did not keep the treaty of friendship they had made. ¹⁰ So I will send fire upon the city walls of Tyre and burn down its fortresses.”

Edom

^11 (D)The Lord says, “The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives,^[a] the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die. ¹² So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah.”

Ammon

^13 (E)The Lord says, “The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. In their wars for more territory they even ripped open pregnant women in Gilead. ¹⁴ So I will send fire upon the city walls of Rabbah and burn down its fortresses. Then there will be shouts on the day of battle, and the fighting will rage like a storm. ¹⁵ Their king and his officers will go into exile.”

^8 (A)The Lord Almighty says, “I have heard the people of Moab and Ammon insulting and taunting my people, and boasting that they would seize their land. ^9 (B)As surely as I am the living Lord, the God of Israel, I swear that Moab and Ammon are going to be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. They will become a place of salt pits and everlasting ruin, overgrown with weeds. Those of my people who survive will plunder them and take their land.”

¹⁰ That is how the people of Moab and Ammon will be punished for their pride and arrogance and for insulting the people of the Lord Almighty. ¹¹ The Lord will terrify them. He will reduce the gods of the earth to nothing, and then every nation will worship him, each in its own land.