Jeremiah 46–51

¹That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations, ²For Egypt, concerning the force of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, that hath been by the river Phrat, in Carchemish, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: ³‘Set ye in array shield and buckler, And draw nigh to battle. ⁴Gird the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, And station yourselves with helmets, Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail. ⁵Wherefore have I seen them dismayed—They are turned backward, And their mighty ones are beaten down, And to a refuge they have fled, and not turned the face? Fear is round about—an affirmation of Jehovah. ⁶The swift do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, Northward, by the side of the river Phrat, They have stumbled and fallen. ⁷Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves! ⁸Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it. ⁹Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling—treading the bow. ¹⁰And that day is to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice is to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat. ¹¹Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt, In vain thou hast multiplied medicines, Healing there is none for thee.

¹²Nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the land, For the mighty on the mighty did stumble, Together they have fallen—both of them!’ ¹³The word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt: ¹⁴‘Declare ye in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, Yea, sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes say: Station thyself, yea, prepare for thee, For a sword hath devoured around thee, ¹⁵Wherefore hath thy bull been swept away? He hath not stood, because Jehovah thrust him away. ¹⁶He hath multiplied the stumbling, Yea one hath fallen upon his neighbour, And they say: Rise, and we turn back to our people, And unto the land of our birth, Because of the oppressing sword. ¹⁷They have cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt is a desolation, Passed by hath the appointed time. ¹⁸I live—an affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts is His name, Surely as Tabor is among mountains, And as Carmel by the sea—he cometh in, ¹⁹Goods for removal make for thee, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt, For Noph becometh a desolation, And hath been burnt up, without inhabitant. ²⁰A heifer very fair is Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her. ²¹Even her hired ones in her midst are as calves of the stall, For even they have turned, They have fled together, they have not stood, For the day of their calamity hath come on them, The time of their inspection. ²²Its voice as a serpent goeth on, For with a force they go, And with axes they have come in to her, As hewers of trees. ²³They have cut down her forest, An affirmation of Jehovah—for it is not searched, For they have been more than the grasshopper, And they have no numbering. ²⁴Ashamed hath been the daughter of Egypt, She hath been given into the hand of the people of the north. ²⁵Said hath Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after Amon of No, And after Pharaoh, and after Egypt, And after her gods, and after her kings, And after Pharaoh, and after those trusting in him, ²⁶And I have given them into the hand of those seeking their life, And into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of his servants, And afterwards it is inhabited, As in days of old—an affirmation of Jehovah. ²⁷And thou, thou dost not fear, my servant Jacob, Nor art thou dismayed, O Israel, For lo, I am saving thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, And Jacob hath turned back, And hath been at rest, and been at ease, And there is none disturbing. ²⁸Thou, thou dost not fear, My servant Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah—for with thee I am, For I make an end of all the nations Whither I have driven thee, And of thee I do not make an end, And I have reproved thee in judgment, And do not entirely acquit thee!’

Chapter 47

¹That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh smiteth Gaza: ²‘Thus said Jehovah: Lo, waters are coming up from the north, And have been for an overflowing stream, And they overflow the land and its fulness, The city, and the inhabitants in it, And men have cried out, And howled hath every inhabitant of the land. ³From the sound of the stamping of the hoofs of his mighty ones, From the rushing of his chariot, the noise of his wheels, Fathers have not turned unto sons, From feebleness of hands, ⁴Because of the day that hath come to spoil all the Philistines, To cut off to Tyre and to Zidon every helping remnant. For Jehovah is spoiling the Philistines, The remnant of the isle of Caphtor. ⁵Come hath baldness unto Gaza, Cut off hath been Ashkelon, O remnant of their valley, Till when dost thou cut thyself? ⁶Ho, sword of Jehovah, till when art thou not quiet? Be removed unto thy sheath, rest and cease. ⁷How shall it be quiet, And Jehovah hath given a charge to it, Against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? There hath He appointed it!’

Chapter 48

¹Concerning Moab: ‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Woe unto Nebo, for it is spoiled, Put to shame, captured hath been Kiriathaim, Put to shame hath been the high tower, Yea, it hath been broken down. ²There is no more praise of Moab, In Heshbon they devised against it evil: Come, and we cut it off from being a nation, Also, O Madmen, thou art cut off, After thee goeth a sword. ³A voice of a cry is from Horonaim, Spoiling and great destruction. ⁴Destroyed hath been Moab, Caused a cry to be heard have her little ones. ⁵For the ascent of Luhith with weeping, Go up doth weeping, For in the descent of Horonaim Adversaries a cry of desolation have heard. ⁶Flee ye, deliver yourselves, Ye are as a naked thing in a wilderness. ⁷For, because of thy trusting in thy works, And in thy treasures, even thou art captured, And gone out hath Chemosh in a removal, His priests and his heads together. ⁸And come in doth a spoiler unto every city, And no city doth escape, And perished hath the valley, And destroyed been the plain, as Jehovah said. ⁹Give wings to Moab, for she utterly goeth out, And her cities are for a desolation, Without an inhabitant in them. ¹⁰Cursed is he who is doing the work of Jehovah slothfully, And cursed is he Who is withholding his sword from blood. ¹¹Secure is Moab from his youth, And at rest is he for his preserved things, And he hath not been emptied out from vessel unto vessel, And into captivity he hath not gone, Therefore hath his taste remained in him, And his fragrance hath not been changed. ¹²Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent to him wanderers, And they have caused him to wander, And his vessels they empty out, And his bottles they dash in pieces. ¹³And ashamed hath been Moab because of Chemosh, As the house of Israel have been ashamed Because of Beth-El their confidence.

¹⁴How do ye say, We are mighty, And men of strength for battle? ¹⁵Spoiled is Moab, and her cities hath one gone up, And the choice of its young men Have gone down to slaughter, An affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts is His name. ¹⁶Near is the calamity of Moab to come, And his affliction hath hasted exceedingly. ¹⁷Bemoan for him, all ye round about him, And all knowing his name, say ye: How hath it been broken, the staff of strength, The rod of beauty. ¹⁸Come down from honour, sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, For a spoiler of Moab hath come up to thee, He hath destroyed thy fenced places. ¹⁹On the way stand, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, Ask the fugitive and escaped, Say, What hath happened? ²⁰Put to shame hath been Moab, For it hath been broken down, Howl and cry, declare ye in Arnon, For spoiled is Moab, ²¹And judgment hath come in unto the land of the plain—unto Holon, And unto Jahazah, and on Mephaath, ²²And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim, ²³And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon, ²⁴And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all cities of the land of Moab, The far off and the near. ²⁵Cut down hath been the horn of Moab, And his arm hath been broken, An affirmation of Jehovah. ²⁶Declare ye him drunk, For against Jehovah he made himself great And Moab hath stricken in his vomit, And he hath been for a derision—even he. ²⁷And was not Israel the derision to thee? Among thieves was he found? For since thy words concerning him, Thou dost bemoan thyself. ²⁸Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, Ye inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit’s mouth. ²⁹We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Exceeding proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, And his pride, and the height of his heart, ³⁰I—I have known, an affirmation of Jehovah, His wrath, and it is not right, His devices—not right they have done. ³¹Therefore for Moab I howl, even for Moab—all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it doth mourn, ³²With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah, Thy branches have passed over a sea, Unto the sea of Jazer they have come, On thy summer fruits, and on thy harvest, A spoiler hath fallen. ³³And removed hath been joy and gladness From the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And wine from wine-presses I have caused to cease, Shouting doth not proceed, The shouting is no shouting! ³⁴Because of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, Unto Jahaz they have given their voice, From Zoar unto Horonaim, A heifer of the third year, For even waters of Nimrim become…