Judgment on Egypt

46 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet (A)concerning the nations.

About Egypt. (B)Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in (C)the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

(D)“Prepare buckler and shield,
    and advance for battle!
(E)Harness the horses;
    mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
    (F)polish your spears,
    put on your armor!
Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
    and have turned backward.
Their (G)warriors are beaten down
    and have fled in haste;
(H)they look not back—
    (I)terror on every side!
declares the Lord.

“The swift cannot flee away,
    nor the warrior escape;
(J)in the north by the river Euphrates
    (K)they have stumbled and fallen.

“Who is this, (L)rising like the Nile,
    like rivers (M)whose waters surge?
Egypt rises like the Nile,
    like rivers (N)whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
    I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
(O)Advance, O horses,
    and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
    men of Cush and (P)Put who handle the shield,
    (Q)men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
10 (R)That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
    (S)a day of vengeance,
    (T)to avenge himself on his foes.
(U)The sword shall devour and be sated
    and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds (V)a sacrifice
    (W)in the north country (X)by the river Euphrates.
11 (Y)Go up to Gilead, and take (Z)balm,
    O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
    (AA)there is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
    and the earth is full of your cry;
(AB)for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
    they have both fallen together.”

13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of (AC)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in (AD)Migdol;
    proclaim in (AE)Memphis and (AF)Tahpanhes;
say, (AG)‘Stand ready and be prepared,
    for (AH)the sword shall devour around you.’
15 Why are your mighty ones face down?
    They do not stand[a]
    because the Lord thrust them down.
16 He made many stumble, (AI)and they fell,
    and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
    and to the land of our birth,
    (AJ)because of the sword of the oppressor.’
17 Call the name of (AK)Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
    ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

18 (AL)“As I live, declares the King,
    (AM)whose name is the Lord of hosts,
like (AN)Tabor among the mountains
    and like (AO)Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
19 (AP)Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
    O (AQ)inhabitants of Egypt!
For (AR)Memphis shall become a waste,
    a ruin, (AS)without inhabitant.

20 “A beautiful (AT)heifer is Egypt,
    but a biting fly (AU)from the north has come upon her.
21 Even her hired soldiers in her midst
    are like (AV)fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
    they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
    (AW)the time of their punishment.

22 “She makes (AX)a sound like a serpent gliding away;
    for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
    (AY)like those who fell trees.
23 (AZ)They shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
    though it is impenetrable,
because (BA)they are more numerous than locusts;
    they are without number.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
    she shall be delivered into the hand of (BB)a people from the north.”

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon (BC)Amon of (BD)Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt (BE)and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 (BF)I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. (BG)Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited (BH)as in the days of old, declares the Lord.

27 (BI)“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and none shall make him afraid.
28 (BJ)Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord,
    for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
    to which I have driven you,
    but of you I will not make a full end.
(BK)I will discipline you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Judgment on the Philistines

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet (BL)concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down (BM)Gaza.

“Thus says the Lord:
(BN)Behold, waters are rising (BO)out of the north,
    (BP)and shall become an overflowing torrent;
they shall overflow (BQ)the land and all that fills it,
    the city and those who dwell in it.
Men shall cry out,
    and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.
At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
    (BR)at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,
the fathers (BS)look not back to their children,
    so feeble are their hands,
because of the day that is coming to destroy
    all (BT)the Philistines,
to cut off from (BU)Tyre and Sidon
    every helper that remains.
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
    (BV)the remnant of the coastland of (BW)Caphtor.
(BX)Baldness has come upon Gaza;
    (BY)Ashkelon has perished.
O remnant of their valley,
    (BZ)how long will you gash yourselves?
(CA)Ah, sword of the Lord!
    How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
    rest and be still!
How can it[b] be quiet
    (CB)when the Lord has given it a charge?
Against (CC)Ashkelon and against the seashore
    (CD)he has appointed it.”

Judgment on Moab

48 (CE)Concerning Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to (CF)Nebo, for it is laid waste!
    (CG)Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame (CH)and broken down;
    the renown of Moab is no more.
In (CI)Heshbon they planned disaster against her:
    ‘Come, let us cut her off (CJ)from being a nation!’
You also, O (CK)Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
    the sword shall pursue you.

“A voice! A cry from (CL)Horonaim,
    ‘Desolation and great destruction!’
Moab is destroyed;
    her little ones have made a cry.
(CM)For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;[c]
for (CN)at the descent of Horonaim
    they have heard the distressed cry[d] of destruction.
Flee! Save yourselves!
    You will be like (CO)a juniper in the desert!
For, (CP)because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
    you also shall be taken;
and (CQ)Chemosh (CR)shall go into exile
    with (CS)his priests and his officials.
(CT)The destroyer shall come upon every city,
    and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
    and (CU)the plain shall be destroyed,
    as the Lord has spoken.

“Give wings to Moab,
    for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
    with no inhabitant in them.

10 (CV)“Cursed is he who does (CW)the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth
    and has (CX)settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
    nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
    and his scent is not changed.

12 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his[e] jars in pieces. 13 Then (CY)Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as (CZ)the house of Israel was ashamed of (DA)Bethel, their confidence.

14 “How do you say, ‘We are heroes
    and mighty men of war’?
15 The destroyer of (DB)Moab and his cities has come up,
    and the choicest of his young men have (DC)gone down to slaughter,
    declares (DD)the King, (DE)whose name is the Lord of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
    and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17 (DF)Grieve for him, all you who are around him,
    and all who know his name;
say, (DG)‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
    the glorious staff.’

18 (DH)“Come down from your glory,
    and sit on the parched ground,
    O inhabitant of (DI)Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
    he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 (DJ)Stand by the way (DK)and watch,
    O inhabitant of (DL)Aroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
    say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
    (DM)wail and cry!
Tell it beside (DN)the Arnon,
    that (DO)Moab is laid waste.

21 “Judgment has come upon (DP)the tableland, upon Holon, and (DQ)Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22 and (DR)Dibon, and (DS)Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and (DT)Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and (DU)Beth-meon, 24 and (DV)Kerioth, and (DW)Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 (DX)The horn of Moab is cut off, and (DY)his arm is broken, declares the Lord.

26 (DZ)“Make him drunk, (EA)because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall (EB)wallow in his vomit, (EC)and he too shall be held in derision. 27 (ED)Was not Israel a derision to you? (EE)Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him (EF)you wagged your head?

28 (EG)“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
    O inhabitants of Moab!
Be (EH)like the dove that nests
    in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29 (EI)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
    and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
    (EJ)his boasts are false,
    his deeds are false.
31 (EK)Therefore I wail for Moab;
    I cry out for all Moab;
    for the men of (EL)Kir-hareseth I mourn.
32 More than for (EM)Jazer I weep for you,
    (EN)O vine of (EO)Sibmah!
(EP)Your branches passed over the sea,
    reached to the Sea of (EQ)Jazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
    the destroyer has fallen.
33 (ER)Gladness and joy have been taken away
    from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
    no one treads them with shouts of joy;
    the shouting is not the shout of joy.

34 (ES)“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to (ET)Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. 35 And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in (EU)the high place and makes offerings to his god. 36 Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of (EV)Kir-hareseth. (EW)Therefore the riches they gained have perished.

37 (EX)“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. (EY)On all the hands are gashes, and (EZ)around the waist is sackcloth. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like (FA)a vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. 39 How it is broken! How they wail! (FB)How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab (FC)has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

40 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, (FD)one shall fly swiftly like an eagle
    (FE)and spread his wings against Moab;
41 (FF)the cities shall be taken
    and the strongholds seized.
(FG)The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
    like the heart of (FH)a woman in her birth pains;
42 Moab shall be (FI)destroyed and be no longer a people,
    because (FJ)he magnified himself against the Lord.
43 (FK)Terror, pit, and snare
    are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!
declares the Lord.
44 He who flees from the terror
    shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
    shall be caught in the snare.
(FL)For I will bring these things upon Moab,
    the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.

45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
    fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
    flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed (FM)the forehead of Moab,
    the crown of (FN)the sons of tumult.
46 (FO)Woe to you, O Moab!
    The people of (FP)Chemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
    and your daughters into captivity.
47 (FQ)Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
    in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 46:15 Hebrew He does not stand
  2. Jeremiah 47:7 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew you
  3. Jeremiah 48:5 Hebrew weeping goes up with weeping
  4. Jeremiah 48:5 Septuagint (compare Isaiah 15:5) heard the cry
  5. Jeremiah 48:12 Septuagint, Aquila; Hebrew their

46 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;

Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho 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.

Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.

Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the Lord.

Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.

Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?

Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.

Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.

10 For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.

12 The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.

13 The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.

14 Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.

15 Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the Lord did drive them.

16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell 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.

17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.

18 As I live, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.

19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.

20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.

21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.

22 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.

23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:

26 And 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 afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the Lord.

27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

28 Fear thou not, 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 correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.

Thus saith the Lord; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.

At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;

Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the Lord will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.

Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.

How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.

48 Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.

There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.

A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.

Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.

And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken.

Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.

10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.

12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.

13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.

14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?

15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.

17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!

18 Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.

19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?

20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,

21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,

22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,

23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,

24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.

25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord.

26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the Lord: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.

27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.

28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.

29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.

30 I know his wrath, saith the Lord; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.

31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.

32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.

33 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab, and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.

34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.

35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.

36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.

37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.

38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the Lord.

39 They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.

40 For thus saith the Lord; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.

41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord.

43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord.

44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.

45 They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.

46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.

47 Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.