Jeremiah 46
46
You Vainly Collect Medicines
1 God’s Messages through the prophet Jeremiah regarding the godless nations.
2-5The Message to Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt at the time it was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon while camped at Carchemish on the Euphrates River in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah:
“‘Present arms!
March to the front!
Harness the horses!
Up in the saddles!
Battle formation! Helmets on,
spears sharpened, armor in place!’
But what’s this I see?
They’re scared out of their wits!
They break ranks and run for cover.
Their soldiers panic.
They run this way and that,
stampeding blindly.
It’s total chaos, total confusion, danger everywhere!”
God’s Decree.
6“The swiftest runners won’t get away,
the strongest soldiers won’t escape.
In the north country, along the River Euphrates,
they’ll stagger, stumble, and fall.
7-9“Who is this like the Nile in flood?
like its streams torrential?
Why, it’s Egypt like the Nile in flood,
like its streams torrential,
Saying, ‘I’ll take over the world.
I’ll wipe out cities and peoples.’
Run, horses!
Roll, chariots!
Advance, soldiers
from Cush and Put with your shields,
Soldiers from Lud,
experts with bow and arrow.
10“But it’s not your day. It’s the Master’s, me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies—
the day when I have it out with my enemies,
The day when Sword puts an end to my enemies,
when Sword exacts vengeance.
I, the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
will pile them on an altar—a huge sacrifice!—
In the great north country,
along the mighty Euphrates.
11-12“Oh, virgin Daughter Egypt,
climb into the mountains of Gilead, get healing balm.
You will vainly collect medicines,
for nothing will be able to cure what ails you.
The whole world will hear your anguished cries.
Your wails fill the earth,
As soldier falls against soldier
and they all go down in a heap.”
Egypt’s Army Slithers Like a Snake
13The Message that God gave to the prophet Jeremiah when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was on his way to attack Egypt:
14“Tell Egypt, alert Migdol,
post warnings in Noph and Tahpanhes:
‘Wake up! Be prepared!
War’s coming!’
15-19“Why will your bull-god Apis run off?
Because God will drive him off.
Your ragtag army will fall to pieces.
The word is passing through the ranks,
‘Let’s get out of here while we still can.
Let’s head for home and save our skins.’
When they get home they’ll nickname Pharaoh
‘Big-Talk-Bad-Luck.’
As sure as I am the living God”
—the King’s Decree, God-of-the-Angel-Armies is his name—
“A conqueror is coming: like Tabor, singular among mountains;
like Carmel, jutting up from the sea!
So pack your bags for exile,
you coddled daughters of Egypt,
For Memphis will soon be nothing,
a vacant lot grown over with weeds.
20-21“Too bad, Egypt, a beautiful sleek heifer
attacked by a horsefly from the north!
All her hired soldiers are stationed to defend her—
like well-fed calves they are.
But when their lives are on the line, they’ll run off,
cowards every one.
When the going gets tough,
they’ll take the easy way out.
22-24“Egypt will slither and hiss like a snake
as the enemy army comes in force.
They will rush in, swinging axes
like lumberjacks cutting down trees.
They’ll level the country”—God’s Decree—“nothing
and no one standing for as far as you can see.
The invaders will be a swarm of locusts,
innumerable, past counting.
Daughter Egypt will be ravished,
raped by vandals from the north.”
25-26 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, “Watch out when I visit doom on the god Amon of Thebes, Egypt and its gods and kings, Pharaoh and those who trust in him. I’ll turn them over to those who are out to kill them, to Nebuchadnezzar and his military. Egypt will be set back a thousand years. Eventually people will live there again.” God’s Decree.
* * *
27-28“But you, dear Jacob my servant, you have nothing to fear.
Israel, there’s no need to worry.
Look up! I’ll save you from that far country,
I’ll get your children out of the land of exile.
Things are going to be normal again for Jacob,
safe and secure, smooth sailing.
Yes, dear Jacob my servant, you have nothing to fear.
Depend on it, I’m on your side.
I’ll finish off all the godless nations
among which I’ve scattered you,
But I won’t finish you off.
I have more work left to do on you.
I’ll punish you, but fairly.
No, I’m not finished with you yet.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Jeremiah 46
46
Messages Concerning Egypt
1The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. 2Concerning Egypt: Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah.
3“Prepare small shield and shield,
and approach for the battle!
4Harness the horses and mount the steeds!
And take your stand with helmets!
Polish the spears!
Put on the body armor!
5Why do I see them terrified?
They are turning back
and their warriors are beaten down.
And they have fled to a place of refuge
and they do not turn back.
Terror is from all around,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
6The swift cannot flee,
and the warrior cannot escape.
They have stumbled and they have fallen,
by the bank of the Euphrates River.
7Who is this that rises like the Nile,
like the rivers whose waters surge?
8Egypt rises like the Nile,
even like the rivers whose waters surge.
And he says, “Let me rise,
let me cover the earth,
let me destroy cities,
and the inhabitants in them.”
9Go up, O horses,
and drive madly, O chariots,#Hebrew “chariot”
and let the warriors go forth;
Cush and Put, who wield the small shield,
and Lud, who wield and bend the bow.
10For that day is to the Lord Yahweh of hosts
a day of retribution,
to take revenge on his foes.
And the sword will devour and be satisfied,
and it will drink its fill of their blood,
for a sacrifice is for the Lord Yahweh of hosts
in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.
11Go up to Gilead and take balm,
O virgin of the daughter of Egypt.
In vain#Literally “To the vanity” you make use of many medicines;
there is no healing for you.
12The nations have heard your shame,
and your cry of lament fills the earth.
For warrior has stumbled against warrior,
together they have fallen, the two of them.
13The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt:
14“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol,
and proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes,
say, ‘Take your stand and be prepared,
for the sword will devour those all around you.’
15Why are your bulls defeated?
He did not stand because Yahweh thrust him down.
16He multiplied the ones#Hebrew “one” stumbling.
Furthermore, each one fell to his neighbor,
and said, ‘Stand up, and let us return to our people
and to the land of our birth,
because of#Literally “from” the presence#Literally “face” of the sword of the oppressor.’
17They will call there,
‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt is but a roar,
he missed the opportunity.’#Literally “he has allowed to pass over the appointed time”
18As I live,”#Literally “Life I” declares#Literally “a declaration of” the king,
Yahweh of hosts is his name,
“one will come like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea.
19Pack your baggage for exile,
O inhabitants#Hebrew “inhabitant” of the daughter of Egypt,
for Memphis will become as a horror,
and it will be destroyed, without#Literally “from there is not” inhabitant.
20Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
but a gadfly from the north will come against her.
21Even her mercenaries in her midst are like calves of fattening,
for they also have turned away,
they have fled together.
They stand not,
for the day of their calamity has come,
the time of their punishment.
22Her sound is like a snake that glides away,
for they march in force.
And with axes they come to her
like those who chop trees.
23They will cut down her forest,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“for it is impenetrable.#Literally “it cannot be searched out”
Yes, they are more numerous than locusts,#Hebrew “locust”
and they are without number.#Literally “there is not to them a number”
24The daughter of Egypt will be ashamed,
she will be given into the hand of the people of the north.”
25Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, said, “Look, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26And I will give them into the hand of the seekers of their lives,#Hebrew “life” and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his troops. But afterward#Literally “after thus” it will be inhabited, as in days of old,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
27“But as for you, my servant Jacob, you must not be afraid,
and Israel, you must not be dismayed,
for look, I am going to save you from far,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob will return,
and he will be quiet,
and he will be at ease,
and without one who makes him afraid.
28You must not be afraid, my servant Jacob,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“for I am with you.
For I will make a complete destruction in all the nations where I scattered you,
but you I will not make a complete destruction,
though I will chastise you to the measure,
and I will certainly not leave you unpunished.”
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