1. Concerning the Ammonites.Thus says the Lord:“Has Israel no sons?Has he no heir?Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad,and his people settled in its cities?
2. Therefore, behold, the days are coming,declares the Lord,when I will cause the battle cry to be heardagainst Rabbah of the Ammonites;it shall become a desolate mound,and its villages shall be burned with fire;then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,says the Lord.
3. “Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth,lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his officials.
4. Why do you boast of your valleys, O faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying,‘Who will come against me?’
5. Behold, I 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 afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord.”
7. Concerning Edom.Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?
8. Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,O inhabitants of Dedan!For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him.
9. If grape gatherers came to you,would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night,would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
10. But I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places,and he is not able to conceal himself.His children are destroyed, and his brothers,and his neighbors; and he is no more.
11. Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.”
12. For thus says the Lord: “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink.