Jeremiah 46-48

New Century Version

³ “Prepare your shields, large and small,
    and march out for battle!
⁴ Harness the horses
    and get on them!
Go to your places for battle
    and put on your helmets!
Polish your spears.
    Put on your armor!
⁵ What do I see?
    That army is terrified,
and the soldiers are running away.
    Their warriors are defeated.
They run away quickly
    without looking back.
    There is terror on every side!” says the Lord.
⁶ “The fast runners cannot run away;
    the strong soldiers cannot escape.
They stumble and fall
    in the north, by the Euphrates River.
⁷ Who is this, rising up like the Nile River,
    like strong, fast rivers?
⁸ Egypt rises up like the Nile River,
    like strong, fast rivers.
Egypt says, ‘I will rise up and cover the earth.
    I will destroy cities and the people in them!’
⁹ Horsemen, charge into battle!
    Chariot drivers, drive hard!
March on, brave soldiers—
    soldiers from the countries of Cush and Put who carry shields,
    soldiers from Lydia who use bows.

¹⁰ “But that day belongs to the Lord God All-Powerful.
    At that time he will give those people the punishment they deserve.
The sword will kill until it is finished,
    until it satisfies its thirst for their blood.
The Lord God All-Powerful will offer a sacrifice
    in the land of the north, by the Euphrates River.

¹¹ “Go up to Gilead and get some balm,
    people of Egypt!
You have prepared many medicines,
    but they will not work;
    you will not be healed.
¹² The nations have heard of your shame,
    and your cries fill all the earth.
One warrior has run into another;
    both of them have fallen down together!”

¹⁴ “Announce this message in Egypt, and preach it in Migdol.
    Preach it also in the cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes:
‘Get ready for war,
    because the battle is all around you.’
¹⁵ Egypt, why were your warriors killed?
    They could not stand because the Lord pushed them down.
¹⁶ They stumbled again and again
    and fell over each other.
They said, ‘Get up. Let’s go back
    to our own people and our homeland.
    We must get away from our enemy’s sword!’
¹⁷ In their homelands those soldiers called out,
    ‘The king of Egypt is only a lot of noise.
    He missed his chance for glory!’”

¹⁸ The King’s name is the Lord All-Powerful.
    He says, “As surely as I live,
a powerful leader will come.
    He will be like Mount Tabor among the mountains,
    like Mount Carmel by the sea.
¹⁹ People of Egypt, pack your things
    to be taken away as captives,
because Memphis will be destroyed.
    It will be a ruin, and no one will live there.

²⁰ “Egypt is like a beautiful young cow,
    but a horsefly is coming
    from the north to attack her.
²¹ The hired soldiers in Egypt’s army
    are like fat calves,
because even they all turn and run away together;
    they do not stand strong against the attack.
Their time of destruction is coming;
    they will soon be punished.
²² Egypt is like a hissing snake that is trying to escape.
    The enemy comes closer and closer.
They come against Egypt with axes
    like men who cut down trees.
²³ They will chop down Egypt’s army
    as if it were a great forest,” says the Lord.
“There are more enemy soldiers than locusts;
    there are too many to count.
²⁴ The people of Egypt will be ashamed.
    They will be handed over to the enemy from the north.”

“See, the enemy is gathering in the north like rising waters.
    They will become like an overflowing stream
and will cover the whole country like a flood,
    even the towns and the people living in them.
Everyone living in that country
    will cry for help;
    the people will cry painfully.
³ They will hear the sound of the running horses
    and the noisy chariots
    and the rumbling chariot wheels.
Parents will not help their children to safety,
    because they will be too weak to help.
⁴ The time has come
    to destroy all the Philistines.
It is time to destroy all who are left alive
    who could help the cities of Tyre and Sidon.
The Lord will soon destroy the Philistines,
    those left alive from the island of Crete.
⁵ The people from the city of Gaza will be sad and shave their heads.
    The people from the city of Ashkelon will be made silent.
Those left alive from the valley,
    how long will you cut yourselves?^[a]

⁶ “You cry, ‘Sword of the Lord,
    how long will you keep fighting?
Return to your holder.
    Stop and be still.’
⁷ But how can his sword rest
    when the Lord has given it a command?
He has ordered it
    to attack Ashkelon and the seacoast.”

“How terrible it will be for the city of Nebo,
    because it will be ruined.
The town of Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;
    the strong city will be disgraced and shattered.
² Moab will not be praised again.
    Men in the town of Heshbon plan Moab’s defeat.
    They say, ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation!’
Town of Madmen,^[b] you will also be silenced.
    The sword will chase you.
³ Listen to the cries from the town of Horonaim,
    cries of much confusion and destruction.
⁴ Moab will be broken up.
    Her little children will cry for help.
⁵ Moab’s people go up the path to the town of Luhith,
    crying loudly as they go.
On the road down to Horonaim,
    cries of pain and suffering can be heard.
⁶ Run! Run for your lives!
    Go like a bush being blown through the desert.
⁷ You trust in the things you do and in your wealth,
    so you also will be captured.
The god Chemosh will go into captivity
    and his priests and officers with him.
⁸ The destroyer will come against every town;
    not one town will escape.
The valley will be ruined,
    and the high plain will be destroyed,
    as the Lord has said.
⁹ Give wings to Moab,
    because she will surely leave her land.
Moab’s towns will become empty,
    with no one to live in them.
¹⁰ A curse will be on anyone who doesn’t do what the Lord says,
    and a curse will be on anyone who holds back his sword from killing.

¹¹ “The people of Moab have never known trouble.
    They are like wine left to settle;
they have never been poured from one jar to another.
    They have not been taken into captivity.
So they taste as they did before,
    and their smell has not changed.
¹² A time is coming,” says the Lord,
    “When I will send people to pour you from your jars.
They will empty Moab’s jars
    and smash her jugs.
¹³ The people of Israel trusted that god in the town of Bethel,
    and they were ashamed when there was no help.
    In the same way Moab will be ashamed of their god Chemosh.

¹⁴ “You cannot say, ‘We are warriors!
    We are brave men in battle!’
¹⁵ The destroyer of Moab and her towns has arrived.
    Her best young men will be killed!” says the King,
    whose name is the Lord All-Powerful.
¹⁶ “The end of Moab is near,
    and she will soon be destroyed.
¹⁷ All you who live around Moab,
    all you who know her, cry for her.
Say, ‘The ruler’s power is broken;
    Moab’s power and glory are gone.’

¹⁸ “You people living in the town of Dibon, come down from your place of honor
    and sit on the dry ground,
because the destroyer of Moab has come against you.
    And he has destroyed your strong, walled cities.
¹⁹ You people living in the town of Aroer,
    stand next to the road and watch.
See the man running away and the woman escaping.
    Ask them, ‘What happened?’
²⁰ Moab is filled with shame, because she is ruined.
    Cry, Moab, cry out!
Announce at the Arnon River
    that Moab is destroyed.
²¹ People on the high plain have been punished.
    Judgment has come to these towns:
    Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath;
²² Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim;
²³ Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon;
²⁴ Kerioth and Bozrah.
    Judgment has come to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
²⁵ Moab’s strength has been cut off,
    and its arm broken!” says the Lord.

²⁶ “The people of Moab thought they were greater than the Lord,
    so punish them until they act as if they are drunk.
Moab will fall and roll around in its own vomit,
    and people will even make fun of it.
²⁷ Moab, you made fun of Israel.
    Israel was caught in the middle of a gang of thieves.
When you spoke about Israel,
    you shook your head and acted as if you were better than it.
²⁸ People in Moab, leave your towns empty
    and go live among the rocks.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
    at the entrance of a cave.

²⁹ “We have heard that the people of Moab are proud,
    very proud.
They are proud, very proud,
    and in their hearts they think they are important.”
³⁰ The Lord says,
    “I know Moab’s great pride, but it is useless.
    Moab’s bragging accomplishes nothing.
³¹ So I cry sadly for Moab,
    for everyone in Moab.
    I moan for the people from the town of Kir Hareseth.
³² I cry with the people of the town of Jazer
    for you, the grapevines of the town of Sibmah.
In the past your vines spread all the way to the sea,
    as far as the sea of Jazer.
But the destroyer has taken over
    your fruit and grapes.
³³ Joy and happiness are gone
    from the large, rich fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses.
    No one walks on the grapes with shouts of joy.
There are shouts,
    but not shouts of joy.

³⁴ “Their crying can be heard from Moabite towns,
    from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz.
It can be heard from Zoar as far away as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah.
    Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
³⁵ I will stop Moab
    from making burnt offerings at the places of worship
    and from burning incense to their gods,” says the Lord.

³⁶ “My heart cries sadly for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song.
    It cries like a flute for the people from Kir Hareseth.
    The money they made has all been taken away.
³⁷ Every head has been shaved
    and every beard cut off.
Everyone’s hands are cut,
    and everyone wears rough cloth around his waist.^[c]
38 People are crying on every roof^[d] in Moab
    and in every public square.
There is nothing but sadness,
    because I have broken Moab
    like a jar no one wants,” says the Lord.
³⁹ “Moab is shattered! The people are crying!
    Moab turns away in shame!
People all around her make fun of her.
    The things that happened fill them with great fear.”

“Look! Someone is coming, like an eagle diving down from the sky
    and spreading its wings over Moab.
⁴¹ The towns of Moab will be captured,
    and the strong, walled cities will be defeated.
At that time Moab’s warriors will be frightened,
    like a woman who is having a baby.
⁴² The nation of Moab will be destroyed,
    because they thought they were greater than the Lord.
⁴³ Fear, deep pits, and traps wait for you,
    people of Moab,” says the Lord.
⁴⁴ “People will run from fear,
    but they will fall into the pits.
Anyone who climbs out of the pits
    will be caught in the traps.
I will bring the year of punishment to Moab,” says the Lord.

⁴⁵ “People have run from the powerful enemy
    and have gone to Heshbon for safety.
But fire started in Heshbon;
    a blaze has spread from the hometown of Sihon king of Moab.
It burned up the leaders of Moab
    and destroyed those proud people.
⁴⁶ How terrible it is for you, Moab!
    The people who worship Chemosh have been destroyed.
Your sons have been taken captive,
    and your daughters have been taken away.

⁴⁷ “But in days to come,
    I will make good things happen again to Moab,” says the Lord.