Jeremiah 46–51

Judgment on Egypt

46The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against ^athe nations. ²Against ^bEgypt.

^cConcerning the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the River Euphrates in Carchemish, and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^ddefeated in the ^efourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³“Order ¹the ²buckler and shield,

And draw near to battle!

⁴Harness the horses,

And mount up, you horsemen!

Stand forth with your helmets,

Polish the spears,

^fPut on the armor!

⁵Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back?

Their mighty ones are beaten down;

They have speedily fled,

And did not look back,

For ^gfear was all around,” says the Lord.

⁶“Do not let the swift flee away,

Nor the mighty man escape;

They will ^hstumble and fall

Toward the north, by the River Euphrates.

⁷“Who is this coming up ⁱlike a flood,

Whose waters move like the rivers?

⁸Egypt rises up like a flood,

And its waters move like the rivers;

And he says, ‘I will go up and cover the earth,

I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.’

⁹Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots!

And let the mighty men come forth:

³The Ethiopians and ⁴the Libyans who handle the shield,

And the Lydians ^jwho handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰For this is ^kthe day of the Lord God of hosts,

A day of vengeance,

That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.

^lThe sword shall devour;

It shall be ⁵satiated and made drunk with their blood;

For the Lord God of hosts ^mhas a sacrifice

In the north country by the River Euphrates.

¹¹“Go ⁿup to Gilead and take balm,

^oO virgin, the daughter of Egypt;

In vain you will use many medicines;

^pYou shall not be cured.

¹²The nations have heard of your ^qshame,

And your cry has filled the land;

For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty;

They both have fallen together.”

Babylonia Will Strike Egypt

¹³The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would come and ^rstrike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in ^sMigdol;

Proclaim in ⁶Noph and in ^tTahpanhes;

Say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves,

For the sword devours all around you.’

¹⁵Why are your valiant men swept away?

They did not stand

Because the Lord drove them away.

¹⁶He made many fall;

Yes, ^uone fell upon another.

And they said, ‘Arise!

^vLet us go back to our own people

And to the land of our nativity

From the oppressing sword.’

¹⁷They cried there,

‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise.

He has passed by the appointed time!’

¹⁸“As I live,” says the King,

^wWhose name is the Lord of hosts,

“Surely as Tabor is among the mountains

And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.

¹⁹O ^xyou daughter dwelling in Egypt,

Prepare yourself ^yto go into captivity!

For ⁷Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.

²⁰“Egypt is a very pretty ^zheifer,

But destruction comes, it comes ^afrom the north.

²¹Also her mercenaries are in her midst like ⁸fat bulls,

For they also are turned back,

They have fled away together.

They did not stand,

For ^bthe day of their calamity had come upon them,

The time of their punishment.

^22cHer noise shall go like a serpent,

For they shall march with an army

And come against her with axes,

Like those who chop wood.

²³“They shall ^dcut down her forest,” says the Lord,

“Though it cannot be searched,

Because they are innumerable,

And more numerous than ^egrasshoppers.

²⁴The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;

She shall be delivered into the hand

Of ^fthe people of the north.”

²⁵The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring punishment on ⁹Amon of ^gNo, ¹and Pharaoh and Egypt, ^hwith their gods and their kings—Pharaoh and those who ⁱtrust in him. ^26jAnd I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of his servants. ^kAfterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the Lord.

God Will Preserve Israel

²⁷“But ^ldo not fear, O My servant Jacob,

And do not be dismayed, O Israel!

For behold, I will ^msave you from afar,

And your offspring from the land of their captivity;

Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease;

No one shall make him afraid.

²⁸Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the Lord,

“For I am with you;

For I will make a complete end of all the nations

To which I have driven you,

But I will not make ⁿa complete end of you.

I will rightly ^ocorrect you,

For I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”

Judgment on Philistia

47The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^aagainst the Philistines, ^bbefore Pharaoh attacked Gaza.

²Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, ^cwaters rise ^dout of the north,

And shall be an overflowing flood;

They shall overflow the land and all that is in it,

The city and those who dwell within;

Then the men shall cry,

And all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.

³At the ^enoise of the stamping hooves of his strong horses,

At the rushing of his chariots,

At the rumbling of his wheels,

The fathers will not look back for their children,

¹Lacking courage,

⁴Because of the day that comes to plunder all the ^fPhilistines,

To cut off from ^gTyre and Sidon every helper who remains;

For the Lord shall plunder the Philistines,

^hThe remnant of the country of ⁱCaphtor. ²

^5jBaldness has come upon Gaza,

^kAshkelon is cut off

With the remnant of their valley.

How long will you cut yourself?

⁶“O you ^lsword of the Lord,

How long until you are quiet?

Put yourself up into your scabbard,

Rest and be still!

⁷How can ³it be quiet,

Seeing the Lord has ^mgiven it a charge

Against Ashkelon and against the seashore?

There He has ⁿappointed it.”

Judgment on Moab

48Against ^aMoab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to ^bNebo!

For it is plundered,

^cKirjathaim is shamed and taken;

¹The high stronghold is shamed and dismayed—

^2dNo more praise of Moab.

In ^eHeshbon they have devised evil against her:

‘Come, and let us cut her off as a nation.’

You also shall be cut down, O ^fMadmen! ²

The sword shall pursue you;

³A voice of crying shall be from ^gHoronaim:

‘Plundering and great destruction!’

⁴“Moab is destroyed;

³Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard;

^5hFor in the Ascent of Luhith they ascend with continual weeping;

For in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

⁶“Flee, save your lives!

And be like ⁴the ⁱjuniper in the wilderness.

⁷For because you have trusted in your works and your ^jtreasures,

You also shall be taken.

And ^kChemosh shall go forth into captivity,

His ^lpriests and his princes together.

⁸And ^mthe plunderer shall come against every city;

No one shall escape.

The valley also shall perish,

And the plain shall be destroyed,

As the Lord has spoken.

⁹“Give ⁿwings to Moab,

That she may flee and get away;

For her cities shall be desolate,

Without any to dwell in them.

^10oCursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully,

And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

¹¹“Moab has been at ease from ⁵his youth;

He ^phas settled on his dregs,

And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

Nor has he gone into captivity.

Therefore his taste remained in him,

And his scent has not changed.

¹²“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,

“That I shall send him ⁶wine-workers

Who will tip him over

And empty his vessels

And break the bottles.

¹³Moab shall be ashamed of ^qChemosh,

As the house of Israel ^rwas ashamed of ^sBethel, their confidence.

¹⁴“How can you say, ^t‘We are mighty

And strong men for the war’?

¹⁵Moab is plundered and gone up from her cities;

Her chosen young men have ^ugone down to the slaughter,” says ^vthe King,

Whose name is the Lord of hosts.

¹⁶“The calamity of Moab is near at hand,

And his affliction comes quickly.

¹⁷Bemoan him, all you who are around him;

And all you who know his name,

Say, ^w‘How the strong staff is broken,

The beautiful rod!’

¹⁸“O ^xdaughter inhabiting ^yDibon,

Come down from your glory,

And sit in thirst;

For the plunderer of Moab has come against you,

He has destroyed your strongholds.

¹⁹O inhabitant of ^zAroer,

^aStand by the way and watch;

Ask him who flees

And her who escapes;

Say, ‘What has happened?’

²⁰Moab is shamed, for he is broken down.

^bWail and cry!

Tell it in ^cArnon, that Moab is plundered.

²¹“And judgment has come on the plain country:

On Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath,

²²On Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,

²³On Kirjathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,

²⁴On ^dKerioth and Bozrah,

On all the cities of the land of Moab,

Far or near.

^25eThe ⁷horn of Moab is cut off,

And his ^farm is broken,” says the Lord.

²⁶“Make ^ghim drunk,

Because he exalted himself against the Lord.

Moab shall wallow in his vomit,

And he shall also be in derision.

²⁷For ^hwas not Israel a derision to you?

ⁱWas he found among thieves?

For whenever you speak of him,

You shake your head in ^jscorn.

²⁸You who dwell in Moab,

Leave the cities and ^kdwell in the rock,

And be like ^lthe dove which makes her nest

In the sides of the cave’s mouth.

²⁹“We have heard the ^mpride of Moab

(He is exceedingly proud),

Of his loftiness and arrogance and ⁿpride,

And of the haughtiness of his heart.”

³⁰“I know his wrath,” says the Lord,

“But it is not right;

^oHis ⁸lies have made nothing right.

³¹Therefore ^pI will wail for Moab,

And I will cry out for all Moab;

⁹I will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.

^32qO vine of Sibmah! I will weep for you with the weeping of ^rJazer.

Your plants have gone over the sea,

They reach to the sea of Jazer.

The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit and your vintage.

^33sJoy and gladness are taken

From the plentiful field

And from the land of Moab;

I have caused wine to ¹fail from the winepresses;

No one will tread with joyous shouting—

Not joyous shouting!

³⁴“From ^tthe cry of Heshbon to ^uElealeh and to Jahaz

They have uttered their voice,

^vFrom Zoar to Horonaim,

Like ²a three-year-old heifer;

For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.

³⁵“Moreover,” says the Lord,

“I will cause to cease in Moab

^wThe one who offers sacrifices in the ³high places

And burns incense to his gods.

³⁶Therefore ^xMy heart shall wail like flutes for Moab,

And like flutes My heart shall wail

For the men of Kir Heres.

Therefore ^ythe riches they have acquired have perished.

³⁷“For ^zevery head shall be bald, and every beard clipped;

On all the hands shall be cuts, and ^aon the loins…