Jeremiah 46–51
1 That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet aconcerning the nations.
2 To aEgypt, concerning the army of bPharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at cCarchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the dfourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3 “aLine up the shield and 1buckler,
And draw near for the battle!
And 1mount the steeds,
And take your stand with helmets on!
aPolish the spears,
Put on the bscale-armor!
They are terrified,
They are adrawing back,
And their bmighty men are defeated
And have taken refuge in flight,
Without facing back;
Declares the Lord.
6 Let not the aswift man flee,
Nor the mighty man escape;
In the north beside the river Euphrates
They have bstumbled and fallen.
7 Who is this that arises like the Nile,
Like the rivers whose waters surge about?
Even like the rivers whose waters surge about;
And He has said, “I will arise and cover that land;
I will surely bdestroy the city and its inhabitants.”
9 Go up, you horses, and 1adrive madly, you chariots,
That the mighty men may 2march forward:
Ethiopia and 3bPut, that handle the shield,
And the 4cLydians, that handle and bend the bow.
10 For athat day belongs to the Lord 1God of hosts,
A day of bvengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes;
And the csword will devour and be satiated
And 2drink its fill of their blood;
For there will be a dslaughter for the Lord 1God of hosts,
In the land of the north by the river Euphrates.
11 Go aup to Gilead and obtain balm,
bO virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain have you multiplied 1remedies;
There is cno healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your ashame,
And the earth is full of your bcry of distress;
For one cwarrior has stumbled over 1another,
And both of them have fallen down together.
13 This is the 1message which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the acoming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to bsmite the land of Egypt:
14 “Declare in Egypt and proclaim in aMigdol,
Proclaim also in Memphis and bTahpanhes;
Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,
For the csword has devoured those around you.’
15 “Why have your amighty ones become prostrate?
They do not stand because the Lord has bthrust them down.
16 “They have repeatedly astumbled;
Indeed, they have fallen one against another.
Then they said, ‘Get up! And blet us go back
To our own people and our native land
Away from the 1csword of the oppressor.’
17 “1They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but aa big noise;
He has let the appointed time pass by!’
18 “As I live,” declares the aKing
Whose name is the Lord of hosts,
“Surely one shall come who looms up like bTabor among the mountains,
Or like cCarmel by the sea.
19 “Make your baggage ready for aexile,
O bdaughter dwelling in Egypt,
For cMemphis will become a desolation;
It will even be burned down and 1bereft of inhabitants.
20 “Egypt is a pretty aheifer,
But a 1horsefly is coming bfrom the north—it is coming!
21 “Also her amercenaries in her midst
For even they too have turned back and have fled away together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their calamity has come upon them,
The time of their cpunishment.
22 “Its sound moves along like a serpent;
For they move on 1like an army
And come to her as woodcutters with axes.
23 “They have cut down her aforest,” declares the Lord;
“Surely it will no more be found,
Even though 1they are now more numerous than blocusts
And are without number.
24 “The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,
Given over to the 1power of the apeople of the north.”
25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of aThebes, and bPharaoh, and Egypt along with her cgods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who dtrust in him.
26 “I shall give them over to the 1power of those who are aseeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his 2officers. bAfterwards, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the Lord.
27 “But as for you, O Jacob My servant, ado not fear,
Nor be dismayed, O Israel!
For, see, I am going to bsave you from afar,
And your descendants from the land of their captivity;
And Jacob will return and be cundisturbed
And secure, with no one making him tremble.
28 “O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the Lord,
“For aI am with you.
For I will make a full end of all the nations
Where I have driven you,
Yet I will bnot make a full end of you;
But I will ccorrect you properly
And by no means leave you unpunished.”
1 That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the aPhilistines, before Pharaoh 1conquered bGaza.
“Behold, waters are going to rise from athe north
And become an overflowing torrent,
And boverflow the land and all its fullness,
The city and those who live in it;
And the men will ccry out,
And every inhabitant of the land will wail.
3 “Because of the noise of the 1agalloping hoofs of his 2stallions,
The tumult of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels,
The fathers have not turned back for their children,
Because of the limpness of their hands,
4 On account of the day that is coming
To adestroy all the Philistines,
To cut off from bTyre and Sidon
Every ally that is left;
For the Lord is going to destroy the Philistines,
The remnant of the coastland of cCaphtor.
5 “aBaldness has come upon Gaza;
bAshkelon has been ruined.
O remnant of their valley,
How long will you cgash yourself?
6 “Ah, asword of the Lord,
How long will you not be quiet?
Withdraw into your sheath;
Be at rest and stay still.
7 “How can 1it be quiet,
When the Lord has agiven it an order?
Against Ashkelon and against the seacoast—
There He has bassigned it.”
1 Concerning aMoab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Woe to bNebo, for it has been destroyed;
cKiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;
The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and 1shattered.
2 “There is praise for Moab no longer;
In aHeshbon they have devised calamity against her:
‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’
You too, 1Madmen, will be silenced;
The sword will follow after you.
3 “The sound of an outcry from aHoronaim,
‘Devastation and great destruction!’
Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.
5 “For by the ascent of aLuhith
They will ascend with continual weeping;
For at the descent of Horonaim
They have heard the 1anguished cry of destruction.
6 “aFlee, save your lives,
That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
7 “For because of your atrust in your own achievements and treasures,
Even you yourself will be captured;
And bChemosh will go off into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
8 “A destroyer will come to every city,
So that no city will escape;
The valley also will be ruined
And the aplateau will be destroyed,
As the Lord has said.
For she will 2flee away;
And her cities will become a bdesolation,
Without inhabitants in them.
10 “aCursed be the one who does the Lord’s work bnegligently,
And cursed be the one who restrains his csword from blood.
11 “Moab has been aat ease since his youth;
He has also been bundisturbed, like wine on 1its dregs,
And he has not been cemptied from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore 2he retains his flavor,
And his aroma has not changed.
12 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter 1his jars.
13 “And Moab will be aashamed of bChemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of cBethel, their confidence.
14 “How can you say, ‘We are amighty warriors,
And men valiant for battle’?
15 “Moab has been destroyed and 1men have gone up to 2his cities;
His choicest 3ayoung men have also gone down to the slaughter,”
Declares the bKing, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
16 “The disaster of Moab will asoon come,
And his calamity has swiftly hastened.
17 “Mourn for him, all you who live around him,
Even all of you who know his name;
Say, ‘How has the mighty 1ascepter been broken,
A staff of splendor!’
18 “aCome down from your glory
And sit 1on the parched ground,
O bdaughter dwelling in cDibon,
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,
He has ruined your strongholds.
19 “Stand by the road and keep watch,
O inhabitant of aAroer;
bAsk him who flees and her who escapes
And say, ‘What has happened?’
20 “Moab has been put to shame, for it has been 1shattered.
Wail and cry out;
Declare by the aArnon
That Moab has been destroyed.
21 “Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, aJahzah and against bMephaath,
22 against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,
23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and aBeth-meon,
24 against aKerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
25 “The ahorn of Moab has been cut off and his barm broken,” declares the Lord.
26 “aMake him drunk, for he has 1become barrogant toward the Lord; so Moab will 2wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.
27 “Now was not Israel a alaughingstock to you? Or was he 1bcaught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you cshake your head in scorn.
28 “Leave the cities and dwell among the acrags,
O inhabitants of Moab,
And be like a bdove that nests
Beyond the mouth of the chasm.
29 “aWe have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud—
Of his haughtiness, his bpride, his arrogance and 1his self-exaltation.
30 “I know his afury,” declares the Lord,
“But it is futile;
His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.
31 “Therefore I will awail for Moab,
Even for all Moab will I cry out;
1I will moan for the men of bKir-heres.
32 “More than the aweeping for bJazer
I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!
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