Jeremiah 46
46
The Lord Speaks to Jeremiah about the Nations
1The Lord often told me what to say about the different nations of the world.
What the Lord Says about Egypt
2 #
Is 19.1-25; Ez 29.1—32.32. In 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 b.c. At the time of the battle in 605 b.c., 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 b.c. in a battle at the city of Carchemish near the Euphrates River. And here is what the Lord told me to say about the Egyptian army:
3It's time to go into battle!
So grab your shields,
4saddle your horses,
and polish your spears.
Put on your helmets and armor,
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 Euphrates River.
7What nation is this,
that rises like the Nile River
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 Euphrates River,
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
13-14 #
Jr 43.10-13. When 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 to tell them:
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 worshiped 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.
* 22The enemy army will go forward
like a swarm of locusts.#46.22 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
23when 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 someday have people living here again, just as it had before. I, the Lord, have spoken.
The Lord Will Bring Israel Home
The Lord said:
27 #
Jr 30.10,11. Israel,#46.27 Israel: See the note at 30.10. don't be afraid.
Someday 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.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 46
46
1The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. 2Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh-neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. 3Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. 4Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail. 5Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side, saith the LORD. 6Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled, and fallen. 7Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? 8Egypt riseth up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. 9Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow. 10For that day is a day of the Lord, the LORD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood: for the Lord, the LORD of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. 11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no healing for thee.
12The nations have heard of thy shame, and the earth is full of thy cry: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together. 13The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt. 14Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, stand forth, and prepare thee; for the sword hath devoured round about thee. 15Why are thy strong ones swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them. 16He made many to stumble, yea, they fell one upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again 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 hath let the appointed time pass by. 18As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. 19O thou daughter that dwellest in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant. 20Egypt is a very fair heifer; but destruction out of the north is come, it is come. 21Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they did not stand: for the day of their calamity is come upon them, the time of their visitation. 22The sound thereof shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. 23They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. 24The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. 25The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and them that trust in him: 26and I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD. 27But fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, low, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 28Fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD; for I am with thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee with judgement, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.
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historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society