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Prophecy against Ammon

49 Concerning the [a]sons (descendants) of Ammon.

Thus says the Lord:
“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?
Has he no heir?
Why then has [b]Malcam taken possession of Gad
And [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?

“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will cause an alarm of war to be heard
Against Rabbah of the Ammonites;
And it [along with the high ground on which it stands] will become a desolate heap,
And its villages will be set on fire.
Then will Israel take possession of his possessors,”
Says the Lord.(A)

“Wail, O [c]Heshbon, for Ai [in Ammon] has been destroyed!
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!
Wrap yourselves with sackcloth and lament (cry out in grief),
And rush back and forth inside the enclosures;
For Malcam [your powerless god] will go into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.

“Why do you boast of your valleys?
Your valley is flowing away,
[O Ammon] rebellious and faithless daughter
Who trusts in her treasures, saying,
‘Who will come against me?’

“Behold, I am going to bring terror on you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts,
“From all who are around you;
And each of you will be driven out headlong,
And there will be no one to gather the fugitives together.

“But [d]afterward I will reverse
The captivity of the children of Ammon and restore their fortunes,”
Says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 49:1 When the tribes of the Northern Kingdom were taken captive in 734-732 b.c., the Ammonites, a nomadic, warlike people descended from Lot through his younger daughter, moved into the territory of the tribe of Gad east of the Jordan.
  2. Jeremiah 49:1 Malcam or Milcom (1 Kin 11:5, 33; Zeph 1:5) was the national god of the Ammonites. Other variant forms of this name include Milcham and Malcham.
  3. Jeremiah 49:3 Originally a Moabite town, Heshbon was located south of Ammon.
  4. Jeremiah 49:6 As complete and continuous as the desolation of Moab and Ammon was for so many centuries, yet God is keeping His word for their restoration “in the latter days” (48:47) in a remarkable manner. For instance, Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (formerly called Transjordania, and in ancient times, Rabbath of Ammon or the City of Waters), was a mere village in 1900, but by the year 2000 it was a city of almost 2,000,000 inhabitants.

28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach (disgrace),’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter; it is sharpened and polished to put an end [to everything], and to flash like lightning, 29 while they (Ammonite prophets) see false visions [of peace] for you, while they divine lies [of escape] for you—to place you [of Ammon] on the headless bodies of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, whose time of the final punishment is here. 30 Return the sword to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin (birth), I will judge you. 31 I will pour out My indignation on you [sons of Ammon]; I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will place you in the hand of brutal men, skilled in destruction. 32 You will be fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I the Lord have spoken.’”(A)

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13 
Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of the children of [a]Ammon and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because the Ammonites have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead,
That they might enlarge their border.
14 
“So I will kindle a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] on the wall of Rabbah [in Ammon]
And it shall devour its strongholds
Amid war cries and shouts of alarm on the day of battle,
And a tempest on the day of the whirlwind [when the enemy captures the city].
15 
“Their king shall go into exile,
He and his princes together,” says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 1:13 Descendants of Ben-ammi, the son born to Lot and his younger daughter (Gen 19:30-38).


“I have heard the taunting of Moab
And the revilings of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have taunted My people
And become arrogant against their territory [by violating Israel’s boundary and trying to seize its land].

“Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel,
[a]Moab will in fact become like Sodom
And the [b]sons of Ammon like Gomorrah,
A land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The remnant of My people will plunder them
And what is left of My nation will inherit them [as their own].”

10 This they shall have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of hosts. 11 The Lord will be terrifying and awesome to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down and worship Him, everyone from his own place.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 2:9 The descendants of Lot and his elder daughter (Gen 19:37).
  2. Zephaniah 2:9 Descendants of Lot and his younger daughter (Gen 19:38).

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