Jeremiah 49
Wycliffe's Bible
1To the sons also of Ammon. The Lord saith these things. Whether no sons be of Israel, either an heir is not to it? why therefore wielded Malcham the heritage of Gad, and the people thereof dwelled in the cities of Gad? (And about the Ammonites, the Lord saith these things. Did Israel have no children, or hath he not left an heir? and so why did Milcom possess the inheritance of Gad, and his people live in the cities of Gad?)

2Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall make the gnashing of battle heard on Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; and it shall be destroyed into noise, and the villages thereof shall be burnt with fire, and Israel shall wield his wielders, saith the Lord. (Lo! days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make the gnashing of battle heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be destroyed unto heaps of rubble, and its villages shall be burned down, and then Israel shall overcome his overcomers, saith the Lord.)

3Yell, ye Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with hair-shirts, wail ye, and compass by hedges; for why Malcham shall be led into passing over, the priests thereof and princes thereof together. (Yell, ye Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird yourselves with hair-shirts, wail ye, and go around by the hedges; for Milcom shall be led into captivity, together with its priests and its princes, or its leaders.)

4What hast thou glory in valleys? Thy valleys floated away, thou delicate daughter, that haddest trust in thy treasures, and saidest, Who shall come to me? (Why hast thou glory over rich valleys? For thy valleys have floated away, thou delicate daughter, ye who haddest trust in thy treasures, and saidest, Who shall come against me?)

5Lo! I shall bring in dread on thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, God of Israel, of all men that be in thy compass; and ye shall be scattered, each by himself, from your sight, and none shall be, that gather them that flee. (Lo! I shall bring in terror upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, from all who be around thee; and ye shall be scattered, each person by himself, from your sight, and there shall be no one, who shall gather together them who flee.)

6And after these things I shall make the fleers and [the] prisoners of the sons of Ammon to turn again, saith the Lord. (And after these things I shall restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, saith the Lord.)

7To Idumea, the Lord of hosts saith these things. Whether wisdom is no more in Teman? Counsel perished from sons, the wisdom of them is made unprofitable. (About Edom, the Lord of hosts saith these things. Is wisdom no more in Teman? hath counsel, or good advice, perished from its people? is their wisdom made worthless?)

8Flee ye, and turn ye the backs; go down into a swallow, ye dwellers of Dedan, for I have brought the perdition of Esau on him, the time of his visitation. (Flee ye, and turn ye the backs; go down into a hollow, ye inhabitants of Dedan, for I have brought the perdition of Esau upon him, yea, the time of his punishment.)

9If gatherers of grapes had come [up]on thee, they should have left (at least) a cluster; if thieves in the night, they should have ravished that that sufficed to them (if thieves in the night, they should have robbed, or taken, only what sufficed for themselves).

10Forsooth I have uncovered Esau, and I have showed the hid things of him, and he may not be able to be hid; his seed is destroyed, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and it shall not be. (But I have uncovered Esau, and I have shown his hidden things, and he cannot hide himself; his children, or his descendants, be destroyed, and also his kinsmen, and his neighbours, and now he is not.)

11Forsake thy fatherless children, and I shall make them to live, and thy widows shall (have) hope in me.

12For the Lord saith these things, Lo! they drinking shall drink, to whom was no doom, that they should drink the cup (Lo! they who were not doomed, that they should drink the cup, even so, they shall still have to drink it). And shalt thou be left as innocent? (No!) thou shalt not be (left as) innocent, but thou drinking shalt (also) drink (of it). 13For I swore by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall be into wilderness, and into shame, and into forsaking, and into cursing; and all the cities thereof shall be into everlasting wildernesses.

14I heard an hearing of the Lord, and I am sent (as) a messenger to heathen men (I heard a word from the Lord, and I am sent as a messenger to the heathen); (to say,) Be ye gathered together, and come ye against them, and rise we (up) together into battle.

15For lo! I have given thee (like) a little one among heathen men, despisable among men. (For lo! I make thee little among the heathen, and despised among the people.)

16Thy boast, and the pride of thine heart, hath deceived thee, that dwellest in the caves of stone, and enforcest to take (hold of) the highness of a little hill; when thou as an eagle hast raised (up) thy nest, from thence I shall draw thee down, saith the Lord. (Thy boast, and the pride of thy heart, have deceived thee, thou who livest in stone caves, and endeavourest to take hold of the highness, or the top, of a little hill; even though thou hast raised up thy nest like an eagle, from there I shall draw thee down, saith the Lord.)

17And Idumea shall be forsaken; each man that shall pass by it, shall wonder, and shall hiss on all the wounds thereof; (And Edom shall be deserted; each person who shall pass by it, shall wonder, and shall hiss at all its wounds;) 18as Sodom and Gomorrah is destroyed, and the nigh cities thereof, saith the Lord. A man shall not dwell there, and the son of (a) man shall not inhabit it. (yea, it, and the cities nearby, shall be destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah, saith the Lord. No one shall live there, and no one shall inhabit it.) 19Lo! as a lion he shall ascend from the pride of Jordan to the strong fairness; for I shall make him run suddenly to it; and who shall be the chosen man whom I shall set before him? For who is like to me, and who shall suffer me? and who is this shepherd, that shall against-stand my cheer? (Lo! like a lion he shall come up from the thickets of the Jordan River to the plentiful pastures; but suddenly I shall make him run away; and then who shall be the chosen one that I shall set before him? For who is like me? and who shall dare to challenge me? and who is this shepherd of the people, who shall stand against me?)

20Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he took to Edom, and his thoughts, which he thought of the dwellers of Teman. If the little (ones) of the flock cast not them down, if they destroy not with them the dwelling of them, else no man give credence to me. (And so hear ye the counsel, or the advice, of the Lord, which he brought against Edom, and his thoughts, which he thought against the inhabitants of Teman. The little ones of the flock shall be cast down, or carried off, and they shall destroy their dwelling places with them, else no one give credence to me/or else no one believe me.) 21The earth was moved of the voice of [the] falling of them; the cry of voice thereof was heard in the Red Sea. (The earth was shaken at the sound of their falling; the cries of their voices were heard at the Red Sea, or at the Sea of Reeds.) 22Lo! as an eagle he shall ascend, and fly out, and he shall spread abroad his wings on Bozrah; and the heart of the strong men of Idumea shall be in that day, as the heart of a woman travailing of child. (Lo! he shall ascend like an eagle, and fly out, and he shall spread abroad his wings over Bozrah; and the hearts of the strong men of Edom shall be on that day, like the heart of a woman in labour/like the heart of a woman giving birth.)

23To Damascus. Hamath is shamed, and Arpad, for they heard a full wicked hearing; they were troubled in the sea, for anguish they might not have rest. (About Damascus. Hamath and Arpad be confused, for they heard a very wicked report; they were troubled like a restless sea, they could not take rest from their anguish.)

24Damascus was discomforted, it was turned into flight; trembling took it, anguishes and sorrows held it, as a woman travailing of child (like a woman in labour/like a woman giving birth).

25How forsook they a praiseable city, the city of gladness? (How they deserted the praiseworthy city, the happy, or the joyful, city!)

26Therefore the young men thereof shall fall in the streets thereof, and all men of battle shall be still(ed) in that day, saith the Lord of hosts. (And so its young men shall fall in its streets, and all the men of battle shall die on that day, saith the Lord of hosts.)

27And I shall kindle (a) fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the buildings of Benhadad.

28To Kedar, and to the realm[s] of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, smote, the Lord saith these things. Rise ye, and ascend to Kedar, and destroy ye the sons of the east. (About Kedar, and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, struck, the Lord saith these things. Rise ye, and go up to Kedar, and destroy ye the people of the east.)

29They shall take the tabernacles of them, and the flocks of them; they shall take to them the skins of them, and all the vessels of them, and the camels of them; and they shall call on them inward dread in compass. (They shall take their tents, and their flocks; they shall take their curtains for themselves, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry aloud, saying, Terror is all around you!)

30Flee ye, go ye away greatly, ye that dwell in Hazor, sit in swallows, saith the Lord. For why Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath taken counsel against you, and he thought thoughts against you. (Flee ye, go ye far away, and then sit in the hollows, ye who live in Hazor, saith the Lord. For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, hath taken counsel against you, and he hath made plans against you.)

31Rise ye together, and ascend ye to a peaceable folk, and dwelling trustily, saith the Lord; not doors nor bars be to it, and they dwell alone. (Rise ye up together, and attack ye a peaceful nation, they who live with trust, saith the Lord; yea, they who have no doors or bars, and they live alone, or apart from others.)

32And the camels of them shall be into ravishing, and the multitude of their beasts into prey; and I shall scatter them into each wind, (they) that be beclipped on the long hair, and by each coast of them I shall bring perishing on them, saith the Lord. (And their camels shall be for robbing, and the multitude of their beasts for prey; and I shall scatter them into each wind, they who have clipped their long hair, and I shall bring perishing upon them on each of their coasts, saith the Lord.)

33And Hazor shall be into a dwelling place of dragons; it shall be forsaken till into without end; a man shall not dwell there, neither the son of (a) man shall inhabit it. (And Hazor shall be a dwelling place for dragons, or for jackals; it shall be deserted forever; no one shall live there, and no one shall inhabit it.)

34The word of the Lord that was made to Jeremy, the prophet, against Elam, in the beginning of the realm of Zedekiah, king of Judah, and said, (The word of the Lord that was made to the prophet Jeremiah, about Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and said,)

35The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall break the bow of Elam, and I shall take the strength of them (and I shall take away their strength).

36And I shall bring on Elam four winds, from [the] four coasts of heaven, and I shall winnow them into all these winds, and no folk shall be, to whom the fleers of Elam shall not come. (And I shall bring on Elam the four winds, from the four corners of the heavens, and I shall winnow them into all of these winds, and there shall be no nation, to whom the fleers from Elam shall not come.)

37And I shall make Elam for to dread before their enemies, and in the sight of men seeking the life of them; and I shall bring on them evil, the wrath of my strong vengeance, saith the Lord; and I shall send after them a sword, till I waste them. (And I shall make Elam to be in terror, or in fear, before their enemies, and before those who seek their lives; and I shall bring in evil upon them, the anger of my strong vengeance, saith the Lord; and I shall send a sword after them, until I destroy them.)

38And I shall set my king’s seat in Elam, and I shall lose thereof kings, and princes, saith the Lord. (And I shall set up my king’s throne in Elam, and I shall destroy its kings, and its princes, or its leaders, saith the Lord.)

39But in the last days I shall make the prisoners of Elam to turn again, saith the Lord. (But in the last days I shall restore the fortunes of Elam, saith the Lord.)

WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE

Comprising of
Wycliffe’s Old Testament

and

Wycliffe’s New Testament
(Revised Edition)


Translated by

JOHN WYCLIFFE
and JOHN PURVEY


A modern-spelling edition of their
14TH century Middle English translation,
the first complete English vernacular version,
with an Introduction by

TERENCE P. NOBLE

Used by Permission

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Jeremiah 48
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