Jeremiah 46–51

Messages to the Nations

46The Lord spoke this word to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations:

²This message is to Egypt. It is about the army of Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at the city of Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This was in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. This is the Lord’s message to Egypt:

³“Prepare your shields, large and small,

and march out for battle!

⁴Harness the horses

and get on them!

Go to your places for battle

and put on your helmets!

Polish your spears.

Put on your armor!

⁵What do I see?

That army is terrified,

and the soldiers are running away.

Their warriors are defeated.

They run away quickly

without looking back.

There is terror on every side!” says the Lord.

⁶“The fast runners cannot run away;

the strong soldiers cannot escape.

They stumble and fall

in the north, by the Euphrates River.

⁷Who is this, rising up like the Nile River,

like strong, fast rivers?

⁸Egypt rises up like the Nile River,

like strong, fast rivers.

Egypt says, ‘I will rise up and cover the earth.

I will destroy cities and the people in them!’

⁹Horsemen, charge into battle!

Chariot drivers, drive hard!

March on, brave soldiers—

soldiers from the countries of Cush and Put who carry shields,

soldiers from Lydia who use bows.

¹⁰“But that day belongs to the Lord God All-Powerful.

At that time he will give those people the punishment they deserve.

The sword will kill until it is finished,

until it satisfies its thirst for their blood.

The Lord God All-Powerful will offer a sacrifice

in the land of the north, by the Euphrates River.

¹¹“Go up to Gilead and get some balm,

people of Egypt!

You have prepared many medicines,

but they will not work;

you will not be healed.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame,

and your cries fill all the earth.

One warrior has run into another;

both of them have fallen down together!”

¹³This is the message the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon’s coming to attack Egypt:

¹⁴“Announce this message in Egypt, and preach it in Migdol.

Preach it also in the cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes:

‘Get ready for war,

because the battle is all around you.’

¹⁵Egypt, why were your warriors killed?

They could not stand because the Lord pushed them down.

¹⁶They stumbled again and again

and fell over each other.

They said, ‘Get up. Let’s go back

to our own people and our homeland.

We must get away from our enemy’s sword!’

¹⁷In their homelands those soldiers called out,

‘The king of Egypt is only a lot of noise.

He missed his chance for glory!’ ”

¹⁸The King’s name is the Lord All-Powerful.

He says, “As surely as I live,

a powerful leader will come.

He will be like Mount Tabor among the mountains,

like Mount Carmel by the sea.

¹⁹People of Egypt, pack your things

to be taken away as captives,

because Memphis will be destroyed.

It will be a ruin, and no one will live there.

²⁰“Egypt is like a beautiful young cow,

but a horsefly is coming

from the north to attack her.

²¹The hired soldiers in Egypt’s army

are like fat calves,

because even they all turn and run away together;

they do not stand strong against the attack.

Their time of destruction is coming;

they will soon be punished.

²²Egypt is like a hissing snake that is trying to escape.

The enemy comes closer and closer.

They come against Egypt with axes

like men who cut down trees.

²³They will chop down Egypt’s army

as if it were a great forest,” says the Lord.

“There are more enemy soldiers than locusts;

there are too many to count.

²⁴The people of Egypt will be ashamed.

They will be handed over to the enemy from the north.”

²⁵The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Very soon I will punish Amon, the god of the city of Thebes. And I will punish Egypt, her kings, her gods, and the people who depend on the king. ²⁶I will hand those people over to their enemies, who want to kill them. I will give them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But in the future, Egypt will live in peace as it once did,” says the Lord.

A Message to Israel

²⁷“People of Jacob, my servants, don’t be afraid;

don’t be frightened, Israel.

I will surely save you from those faraway places

and your children from the lands where they are captives.

The people of Jacob will have peace and safety again,

and no one will make them afraid.

²⁸People of Jacob, my servants, do not be afraid,

because I am with you,” says the Lord.

“I will completely destroy the many different nations

where I scattered you.

But I will not completely destroy you.

I will punish you fairly,

but I will not let you escape your punishment.”

A Message to the Philistines

47Before the king of Egypt attacked the city of Gaza, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is to the Philistine people.

²This is what the Lord says:

“See, the enemy is gathering in the north like rising waters.

They will become like an overflowing stream

and will cover the whole country like a flood,

even the towns and the people living in them.

Everyone living in that country

will cry for help;

the people will cry painfully.

³They will hear the sound of the running horses

and the noisy chariots

and the rumbling chariot wheels.

Parents will not help their children to safety,

because they will be too weak to help.

⁴The time has come

to destroy all the Philistines.

It is time to destroy all who are left alive

who could help the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

The Lord will soon destroy the Philistines,

those left alive from the island of Crete.

⁵The people from the city of Gaza will be sad and shave their heads.

The people from the city of Ashkelon will be made silent.

Those left alive from the valley,

how long will you cut yourselves? ⁿ

⁶“You cry, ‘Sword of the Lord,

how long will you keep fighting?

Return to your holder.

Stop and be still.’

⁷But how can his sword rest

when the Lord has given it a command?

He has ordered it

to attack Ashkelon and the seacoast.”

A Message to Moab

48This message is to the country of Moab.

This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says:

“How terrible it will be for the city of Nebo,

because it will be ruined.

The town of Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;

the strong city will be disgraced and shattered.

²Moab will not be praised again.

Men in the town of Heshbon plan Moab’s defeat.

They say, ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation!’

Town of Madmen, ⁿ you will also be silenced.

The sword will chase you.

³Listen to the cries from the town of Horonaim,

cries of much confusion and destruction.

⁴Moab will be broken up.

Her little children will cry for help.

⁵Moab’s people go up the path to the town of Luhith,

crying loudly as they go.

On the road down to Horonaim,

cries of pain and suffering can be heard.

⁶Run! Run for your lives!

Go like a bush being blown through the desert.

⁷You trust in the things you do and in your wealth,

so you also will be captured.

The god Chemosh will go into captivity

and his priests and officers with him.

⁸The destroyer will come against every town;

not one town will escape.

The valley will be ruined,

and the high plain will be destroyed,

as the Lord has said.

⁹Give wings to Moab,

because she will surely leave her land.

Moab’s towns will become empty,

with no one to live in them.

¹⁰A curse will be on anyone who doesn’t do what the Lord says,

and a curse will be on anyone who holds back his sword from killing.

¹¹“The people of Moab have never known trouble.

They are like wine left to settle;

they have never been poured from one jar to another.

They have not been taken into captivity.

So they taste as they did before,

and their smell has not changed.

¹²A time is coming,” says the Lord,

“When I will send people to pour you from your jars.

They will empty Moab’s jars

and smash her jugs.

¹³The people of Israel trusted that god in the town of Bethel,

and they were ashamed when there was no help.

In the same way Moab will be ashamed of their god Chemosh.

¹⁴“You cannot say, ‘We are warriors!

We are brave men in battle!’

¹⁵The destroyer of Moab and her towns has arrived.

Her best young men will be killed!” says the King,

whose name is the Lord All-Powerful.

¹⁶“The end of Moab is near,

and she will soon be destroyed.

¹⁷All you who live around Moab,

all you who know her, cry for her.

Say, ‘The ruler’s power is broken;

Moab’s power and glory are gone.’

¹⁸“You people living in the town of Dibon, come down from your place of honor

and sit on the dry ground,

because the destroyer of Moab has come against you.

And he has destroyed your strong, walled cities.

¹⁹You people living in the town of Aroer,

stand next to the road and watch.

See the man running away and the woman escaping.

Ask them, ‘What happened?’

²⁰Moab is filled with shame, because she is ruined.

Cry, Moab, cry out!

Announce at the Arnon River

that Moab is destroyed.

²¹People on the high plain have been punished.

Judgment has come to these towns:

Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath;

²²Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim;

²³Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon;

²⁴Kerioth and Bozrah.

Judgment has come to all the towns of Moab, far and near.

²⁵Moab’s strength has been cut off,

and its arm broken!” says the Lord.

²⁶“The people of Moab thought they were greater than the Lord,

so punish them until they act as if they are drunk.

Moab will fall and roll around in its own vomit,

and people will even make fun of it.

²⁷Moab, you made fun of Israel.

Israel was caught in the middle of a gang of thieves.

When you spoke about Israel,

you shook your head and acted as if you were better than it.

²⁸People in Moab, leave your towns empty

and go live among the rocks.

Be like a dove that makes its nest

at the entrance of a cave.

²⁹“We have heard that the people of Moab are proud,

very proud.

They are proud, very proud,

and in their hearts they think they are important.”

³⁰The Lord says,

“I know Moab’s great pride, but it is useless.

Moab’s bragging accomplishes nothing.

³¹So I cry sadly for Moab,

for everyone in Moab.

I moan for the people from the town of Kir Hareseth.

³²I cry with the people of the town of Jazer

for you, the grapevines of the town of Sibmah.

In the past your vines spread all the…