Jeremiah 46–51

The Lord’s Message About the Nations

46A message came to me from the Lord. It was about the nations.

A Message About Egypt

²Here is what the Lord says about Egypt.

Here is his message against the army of Pharaoh Neco. He was king of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, won the battle over his army. That happened at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. It was in the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah.

The message says,

³“Egyptians, prepare your shields!

Prepare large and small shields alike!

March out for battle!

⁴Get the horses and chariots ready to ride!

Take up your battle positions!

Put your helmets on!

Shine up your spears!

Put on your armor!

⁵What do I see?

The Egyptians are terrified.

They are pulling back.

Their soldiers are losing.

They run away as fast as they can.

They do not look back.

There is terror on every side,”

announces the Lord.

⁶“Those who run fast can’t get away.

Those who are strong can’t escape.

In the north by the Euphrates River

they trip and fall.

⁷“Who is this that rises like the Nile River?

Who rises like rivers of rushing waters?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile River.

It rises like rivers of rushing waters.

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

I’ll destroy cities and their people.’

⁹Charge, you horses!

Drive fast, you chariot drivers!

March on, you soldiers!

March on, you men of Cush and Put who carry shields.

March on, you men of Lydia who draw bows.

¹⁰But that day belongs to me.

I am the Lord who rules over all.

It is a day for me to pay back my enemies.

The sword will eat until it is satisfied.

It will drink until it has no more thirst for blood.

I am the Lord. I am the Lord who rules over all.

I will offer a sacrifice.

I will offer it in the land of the north

by the Euphrates River.

¹¹“People of Egypt,

go up to Gilead and get some healing lotion.

But no matter what you try, you will not be healed.

There isn’t any healing for you.

¹²The nations will hear about your shame.

Your cries of pain will fill the earth.

One soldier will trip over another.

Both of them will fall down together.”

¹³Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, was coming to attack Egypt. Here is the message the Lord spoke to me about it. He said,

¹⁴“Egyptians, here is what I want you to announce in your land.

Announce it in Migdol.

Also announce it in Memphis and Tahpanhes.

Say, ‘Take up your battle positions! Get ready!

The sword eats up those who are around you.’

¹⁵Why are your soldiers lying on the ground?

They can’t stand, because I bring them down.

¹⁶They will trip again and again.

They will fall over one another.

They will say, ‘Get up. Let’s go back home.

Let’s return to our own people and our own lands.

Let’s get away from the swords

that will bring us great harm.’

¹⁷The Egyptian soldiers will cry out,

‘Pharaoh is our king. But he’s only a loud noise.

He has missed his chance to win the battle.’

¹⁸“I am the King.

My name is The Lord Who Rules Over All.

Someone will come who is like Mount Tabor among the mountains.

He is like Mount Carmel by the Mediterranean Sea.

And that is just as sure as I am alive,”

announces the King.

¹⁹“So pack your belongings, you who live in Egypt.

You will be taken away from your land.

Memphis will be completely destroyed.

Its buildings will be broken down.

No one will live there.

²⁰“Egypt is like a beautiful young cow.

But Nebuchadnezzar is coming against her from the north.

He will bite her like a fly.

²¹Hired soldiers are in Egypt’s army.

They are like fat calves.

All of them will turn and run away.

They will not hold their positions.

The day of trouble is coming on them.

The time for them to be punished is near.

²²The Egyptians will hiss like a snake that is trying to get away.

A powerful army will advance against them.

Their enemies will come against them with axes.

They will be like those who cut down trees.

²³Egypt is like a thick forest.

But they will chop it down,”

announces the Lord.

“There are more of them than there are locusts.

In fact, they can’t even be counted.

²⁴The nation of Egypt will be put to shame.

It will be handed over to the people of the north.”

²⁵The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “I am about to punish Amon, the god of Thebes. I will also punish Pharaoh. I will punish Egypt and its gods and kings. And I will punish those who depend on Pharaoh. ²⁶I will hand them over to those who are trying to kill them. I will give them to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, and his officers. But later, many people will live in Egypt again as in times past,” announces the Lord.

²⁷“People of Jacob, do not be afraid.

You are my servant.

Israel, do not be terrified.

I will bring you safely out of a place far away.

I will bring your children back

from the land where they were taken.

Your people will have peace and security again.

And no one will make them afraid.

²⁸People of Jacob, do not be afraid.

You are my servant.

I am with you,” announces the Lord.

“I will completely destroy all of the nations

among which I scatter you.

But I will not completely destroy you.

I will correct you. But I will be fair.

I will punish you in a way that is fair and right.”

A Message About the Philistines

47A message came to me from the Lord. It was about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.

²The Lord said,

“The armies of Babylonia are like waters rising in the north.

They will become a great flood.

They will flow over the land and everything in it.

They will flow over the towns and those who live in them.

The people will cry out.

All those who live in the land will sob.

³They will sob when they hear galloping horses.

They will sob at the noise of enemy chariots.

They will sob at the rumble of their wheels.

Fathers will not even try to help their children.

Their hands will not be able to help them.

⁴The day has come

to destroy all of the Philistines.

The time has come to cut off all those

who could help Tyre and Sidon.

I am about to destroy the Philistines.

I will not leave anyone alive

who came from the coasts of Crete.

⁵The people of Gaza will be so sad

they will shave their heads.

And Ashkelon’s people will be silent.

You who remain on the flatlands,

how long will you cut yourselves?

⁶“ ‘Sword of the Lord!’ you cry out.

‘How long will it be until you rest?

Return to the place you came from.

Stop killing us! Be still!’

⁷But how can my sword rest

when I have given it a command?

I have ordered it

to attack Ashkelon and the Philistine coast.”

A Message About Moab

48Here is what the Lord says about Moab.

The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,

“How terrible it will be for Nebo!

It will be destroyed.

Kiriathaim will be captured.

It will be put to shame.

Its fort will be broken down.

It will be put to shame.

²Moab will not be praised anymore.

In Heshbon people will plan its fall from power.

They will say, ‘Come. Let’s put an end to that nation.’

City of Madmen, you too will be silent because you are sad.

My sword will hunt you down.

³Listen to the cries from Horonaim.

The town is being completely destroyed.

⁴Moab will be broken.

Her little ones will cry out.

⁵The people go up the road to Luhith.

They are sobbing bitterly as they go.

Loud cries are heard on the road down to Horonaim.

People cry out because the town is being destroyed.

⁶People of Moab run away! Run for your lives!

Become like a lonely bush in the desert.

⁷You trust in the things you can do.

You trust in your riches.

So you too will be taken away as prisoners.

Your god Chemosh will be carried away.

So will its priests and officials.

⁸The one who is going to destroy you

will come against every town.

Not even one of them will escape.

The valley and the high flatlands

will be destroyed.

I, the Lord, have spoken.

⁹Sprinkle salt all over Moab.

It will be completely destroyed.

Its towns will be a dry and empty desert.

No one will live in them.

¹⁰“May a person who is lazy when he does my work

be under my curse!

May anyone who keeps his sword from killing

be under my curse!

¹¹“Moab has been at peace and rest from its earliest days.

It is like wine that has not been shaken up.

It has not been poured from one jar to another.

Moab’s people have not been taken away from their land.

They are like wine that tastes as it always did.

Its smell has not changed at all.

¹²But other days are coming,”

announces the Lord.

“At that time I will send people who pour wine from jars.

They will pour Moab out like wine.

They will empty its jars.

They will smash its jugs.

¹³Then Moab’s people will be ashamed of their god Chemosh.

They will be ashamed just as the people of Israel were

when they trusted in their god at Bethel.

¹⁴“How can you say, ‘We are soldiers.

We are men who are brave in battle’?

¹⁵Moab will be destroyed.

Its enemies will march into its towns.

Her finest young men will die in battle,”

announces the King.

His name is The Lord Who Rules Over All.

¹⁶“The fall of Moab is near.

Its time of trouble will come quickly.

¹⁷All you who live around it, sob over its people.

Be sad, you who know how famous Moab is.

Say, ‘Its powerful ruler’s rod is broken!

His glorious staff is smashed.’

¹⁸“Come down from your glorious city, you who live in Dibon.

Come and sit on the thirsty ground.

The one who destroys your country

will come up and attack you.

Your enemies will destroy your cities

that have high walls around them.

¹⁹Stand by the road and watch,

you who live in Aroer.

Ask the men who are running away.

Ask the women who are escaping.

Ask them, ‘What has happened?’

²⁰Moab has been put to shame.

It has been destroyed.

Sob and cry out!

Tell everyone Moab has been destroyed.

Announce it by the Arnon River.

²¹The high flatlands have been judged.

So have Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath.

²²Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim have been judged.

²³So have Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon.

²⁴Kerioth and Bozrah have also been judged.

And so have all of the towns of Moab, far and near alike.

²⁵Moab’s power is gone.

Its strength is broken,”

announces the Lord.

²⁶“Moab’s people…