Judgment on Ammon
1 aConcerning the Ammonites.
Thus says the Lord:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then has bMilcom1 cdispossessed Gad,
and his people settled in its cities?
2 Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
declares the Lord,
when I will cause dthe battle cry to be heard
against eRabbah of the Ammonites;
it shall become a desolate fmound,
and its villages shall be burned with fire;
then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,
says the Lord.
3 “Wail, O gHeshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
Cry out, O daughters of eRabbah!
hPut on sackcloth,
lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!
For iMilcom shall go into exile,
jwith his priests and his officials.
4 Why do you boast of your valleys,2
kO faithless daughter,
lwho trusted in her treasures, saying,
‘Who will come against me?’
5 Behold, mI will bring terror upon you,
declares the Lord God of hosts,
from all who are around you,
and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,
with none to gather the fugitives.
6 “But nafterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord.”
Judgment on Edom
7 Concerning oEdom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
p“Is wisdom no more in pTeman?
qHas counsel perished from the prudent?
qHas their wisdom vanished?
8 rFlee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of sDedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
tthe time when I punish him.
9 uIf grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave vgleanings?
uIf thieves came by night,
would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
10 wBut I have stripped Esau bare;
uI have uncovered his hiding places,
and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
and his neighbors; and xhe is no more.
11 yLeave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
yand let your widows trust in me.”
12 For thus says the Lord: z“If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, awill you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. 13 bFor I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that cBozrah shall become da horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”
14 eI have heard a message from the Lord,
and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
f“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
and rise up for battle!
15 For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
despised among mankind.
16 The horror you inspire has deceived you,
and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,3
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you gmake your nest as high as the eagle’s,
I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.
17 h“Edom shall become a horror. iEveryone who passes by it will be horrified iand will hiss because of all its disasters. 18 jAs when Sodom and Gomorrah and their kneighboring cities were overthrown, says the Lord, lno man shall dwell there, lno man shall sojourn in her. 19 mBehold, nlike a lion coming up from othe jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him4 run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. pFor who is like me? qWho will summon me? rWhat shepherd can stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against sEdom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of tTeman: uEven the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21 At the sound of their fall vthe earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22 Behold, wone shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against xBozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart yof a woman in her birth pains.”
Judgment on Damascus
23 Concerning zDamascus:
a“Hamath and bArpad are confounded,
for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
cthey are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
24 zDamascus has become feeble, dshe turned to flee,
and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
as yof a woman in labor.
25 How is ethe famous city not forsaken,
the city of my joy?
26 fTherefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the Lord of hosts.
27 And gI will kindle a fire in the wall of zDamascus,
and it shall devour the strongholds of hBen-hadad.”
Judgment on Kedar and Hazor
28 Concerning iKedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.
Thus says the Lord:
j“Rise up, advance against iKedar!
Destroy kthe people of the east!
29 lTheir tents and their flocks shall be taken,
their lcurtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
and men shall cry to them: m‘Terror on every side!’
30 nFlee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Hazor!
declares the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has made a plan against you
and formed a purpose against you.
31 j“Rise up, advance against a nation oat ease,
pthat dwells securely,
declares the Lord,
pthat has no gates or bars,
that dwells alone.
32 qTheir camels shall become plunder,
their herds of livestock a spoil.
rI will scatter to every wind
sthose who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity
from every side of them,
declares the Lord.
33 Hazor shall become ta haunt of jackals,
an everlasting waste;
uno man shall dwell there;
uno man shall sojourn in her.”
Judgment on Elam
34 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning vElam, in the beginning of the reign of wZedekiah king of Judah.
35 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will break xthe bow of vElam, the mainstay of their might. 36 And I will bring upon vElam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of vElam shall not come. 37 I will yterrify vElam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, zmy fierce anger, declares the Lord. aI will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, 38 and I will set my throne in vElam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.
39 “But in the latter days bI will restore the fortunes of vElam, declares the Lord.”
Daleth
25 uMy soul clings to the dust;
vgive me life waccording to your word!
26 When xI told of my ways, you answered me;
yteach me your statutes!
27 zMake me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will ameditate on your wondrous works.
28 bMy soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
29 Put false ways far from me
and graciously cteach me your law!
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I dset your rules before me.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
elet me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of your commandments
Ministers of the New Covenant
1 qAre we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, ras some do, sletters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 tYou yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our1 hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of uthe living God, not on vtablets of stone but on wtablets of xhuman hearts.2
4 ySuch is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 zNot that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but aour sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be bministers of ca new covenant, not of dthe letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but ethe Spirit gives life.
7 Now if fthe ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory gthat the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in hthe ministry of condemnation, ithe ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
12 Since we have such a hope, jwe are very bold, 13 not like Moses, kwho would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But ltheir minds were mhardened. For to this day, nwhen they read othe old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when pone3 turns to the Lord, qthe veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord4 is the Spirit, and where rthe Spirit of the Lord is, there is sfreedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, tbeholding uthe glory of the Lord,5 vare being transformed into the same image wfrom one degree of glory to another.6 For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The Light of the Gospel
1 Therefore, having xthis ministry yby the mercy of God,7 we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced zdisgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice8 cunning or ato tamper with God’s word, but bby the open statement of the truth cwe would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even dif our gospel is veiled, eit is veiled to fthose who are perishing. 4 In their case gthe god of this world dhas blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing hthe light of ithe gospel of the glory of Christ, jwho is the image of God. 5 For what kwe proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with lourselves as your servants9 for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, m“Let light shine out of darkness,” nhas shone in our hearts to give othe light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Treasure in Jars of Clay
7 But we have this treasure in pjars of clay, qto show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are rafflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but snot forsaken; tstruck down, but not destroyed; 10 ualways carrying in the body the death of Jesus, vso that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So wdeath is at work in us, but life in you.
13 Since we have xthe same spirit of faith according to what has been written, y“I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that zhe who raised the Lord Jesus awill raise us also with Jesus and bbring us with you into his presence. 15 For cit is all for your sake, so that as dgrace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, eto the glory of God.
16 So we do not lose heart. fThough our outer self10 is wasting away, gour inner self his being renewed day by day. 17 For ithis light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 jas we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
