A reading from the book of Jeremiah.

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?

Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will cause the battle cry to be heard against

Raba 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.

Well, O Heshbon, for A.I. is laid waste. Cry out, O daughters of Rabah, put on sackcloth,

lament, and run to and fro among the hedges,

for Milcom shall go into exile with his priests and his officials. Why do you boast of your valleys,

O faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasure, saying, who will come against me? 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,

but afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord.

Concerning Edom, thus says the Lord of hosts, is wisdom no more in Teeman, his counsel perished from the prudent, has their wisdom vanished, flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Deiden, for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him, if grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, would they not destroy only

enough for themselves? But I have stripped Esau bear. 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. Leave your fatherless children. I will keep them alive and let your widows trust in me.

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. For I have sworn by

myself, declares the Lord, that Basra shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse,

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