Jeremiah 46
46
The Lord speaks about the nations
1The LORD often told me what to say about the different nations of the world.
What the LORD says about Egypt
2In the fourth year that Jehoiakim#46.2 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3. was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar#46.2 King Nebuchadnezzar: Ruled 605-562 BC. At the time of the battle in 605 BC, he was crown prince, but his father died a few months later, and he became king. of Babylonia defeated King Neco of Egypt#46.2 King Neco of Egypt: Neco II, ruled 609-594 BC. in a battle at the city of Carchemish near the River Euphrates. And here is what the LORD told me to say about the Egyptian army:#Is 19.1-25; Ez 29.1—32.32.
3It's time to go into battle!
So grab your shields,
4saddle your horses,
and polish your spears.
Put on your helmets and armour,
then take your positions.
5I can see the battle now—
you are defeated
and running away,
never once looking back.
Terror is all around.
6You are strong and run fast,
but you can't escape.
You fall in battle
near the River Euphrates.
7What nation is this,
that rises like the River Nile
overflowing its banks?
8It is Egypt, rising with a roar
like a raging river
and saying,
“I'll flood the earth,
destroying cities, and killing
everyone in them.”
9Go ahead, Egypt.
Tell your chariots and cavalry
to attack and fight hard.
Order your troops to march out,
with Ethiopians#46.9 Ethiopians: See the note at 38.7,8. and Libyans
carrying shields,
and the Lydians#46.9 Lydians: Probably hired soldiers from Lydia, an area in west-central Asia minor. armed with bows
and arrows.
10But the LORD All-Powerful
will win this battle
and take revenge
on his enemies.
His sword will eat them
and drink their blood
until it is full.
They will be killed in the north
near the River Euphrates,
as a sacrifice to the LORD.
11Egypt, no medicine can heal you,
not even the soothing lotion
from Gilead.
12All nations have heard you weep;
you are disgraced,
and they know it.
Your troops fall to the ground,
stumbling over each other.
A warning for Egypt
13-14When King Nebuchadnezzar#46.13,14 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. of Babylonia was on his way to attack Egypt, the LORD sent me with a warning for every Egyptian town, but especially for Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. He said I must tell them:#Jr 43.10-13.
Prepare to defend yourselves!
Everywhere in your nation,
people are dying in war.
15I have struck down
your mighty god Apis#46.15 Apis: A sacred bull, kept in a temple at Memphis, Egypt, and worshipped as a god.
and chased him away.#46.15 I have…him away: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
16Your soldiers stumble
over each other
and say, “Get up!
The enemy will kill us,
unless we can escape
to our own land.”
17Give the king of Egypt
this new name,
“Talks-Big-Does-Nothing”.
18Egypt, I am the true king,
the LORD All-Powerful,
and as surely as I live,
those enemies who attack
will tower over you
like Mount Tabor among the hills
or Mount Carmel by the sea.
19You will be led away captive,
so pack a few things
to bring with you.
Your capital, Memphis,
will lie empty and in ruins.
20An enemy from the north
will attack you, beautiful Egypt,
like a fly biting a cow.
21The foreign soldiers you hired
will turn and run.
But they are doomed,
like well-fed calves
being led to the butcher.
22-23The enemy army will go forward
like a swarm of locusts.#46.22,23 locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to plant life.
Your troops will feel helpless,
like a snake in a forest
when men with axes
start chopping down trees.
It can only hiss
and try to escape.
24Your people will be disgraced
and captured by the enemy
from the north.
25I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel. Soon I will punish the god Amon of Thebes#46.25 the god Amon of Thebes: Amon was the king of the Egyptian gods and was the special god of the Egyptian kings. and the other Egyptian gods, the Egyptian kings, the people of Egypt, and everyone who trusts in the Egyptian power. 26I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar and his army. But I also promise that Egypt will some day have people living here again, just as it had before. I, the LORD, have spoken.
The LORD will bring Israel home
The LORD said:
27Israel,#46.27 Israel: See the note at 30.10,11. don't be afraid.#Jr 30.10,11.
Some day I will bring you home
from foreign lands.
You and your descendants
will live in peace and safety,
with nothing to fear.
28So don't be afraid,
even though now
you deserve to be punished
and have been scattered
among other nations.
But when I destroy them,
I will protect you.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 46: CEVUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jeremiah 46
46
1Yahweh’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3“Prepare the buckler and shield,
and draw near to battle!
4Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen,
and stand up with your helmets.
Polish the spears,
put on the coats of mail.
5Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed and are turned backward.
Their mighty ones are beaten down,
have fled in haste,
and don’t look back.
Terror is on every side,”
says Yahweh.
6“Don’t let the swift flee away,
nor the mighty man escape.
In the north by the river Euphrates
they have stumbled and fallen.
7“Who is this who rises up like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge?
8Egypt rises up like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge.
He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth.
I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’
9Go up, you horses!
Rage, you chariots!
Let the mighty men go out:
Cush and Put, who handle the shield;
and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
10For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies,
a day of vengeance,
that he may avenge himself of his adversaries.
The sword will devour and be satiated,
and will drink its fill of their blood;
for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt.
You use many medicines in vain.
There is no healing for you.
12The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty,
they both fall together.”
13The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt:
14“Declare in Egypt,
publish in Migdol,
and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes;
say, ‘Stand up, and prepare,
for the sword has devoured around you.’
15Why are your strong ones swept away?
They didn’t stand, because Yahweh pushed them.
16He made many to stumble.
Yes, they fell on one another.
They said, ‘Arise! Let’s go again to our own people,
and to the land of our birth,
from the oppressing sword.’
17They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise;
he has let the appointed time pass by.’
18“As I live,” says the King,
whose name is Yahweh of Armies,
“surely like Tabor among the mountains,
and like Carmel by the sea,
so he will come.
19You daughter who dwells in Egypt,
furnish yourself to go into captivity;
for Memphis will become a desolation,
and will be burned up,
without inhabitant.
20“Egypt is a very beautiful heifer;
but destruction out of the north has come.
It has come.
21Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall,
for they also are turned back.
They have fled away together.
They didn’t stand,
for the day of their calamity has come on them,
the time of their visitation.
22Its sound will go like the serpent,
for they will march with an army,
and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
23They will cut down her forest,” says Yahweh,
“though it can’t be searched;
because they are more than the locusts,
and are innumerable.
24The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed;
she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.”
25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him. 26I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says Yahweh.
27“But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant.
Don’t be dismayed, Israel;
for, behold, I will save you from afar,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return,
and will be quiet and at ease.
No one will make him afraid.
28Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh,
“for I am with you;
for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you,
but I will not make a full end of you,
but I will correct you in measure,
and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
PUBLIC DOMAIN (not copyrighted)