Jeremiah 44:24-47:7

New American Standard Bible

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “^(A)Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are ^(B)in the land of Egypt! ²⁵This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel ^[a]says: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will ^(C)certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn ^[b]sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” ^(D)By all means fulfill your vows, and be sure to perform your vows!’ ²⁶^[c]In return, hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have ^(E)sworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My name shall ^(F)never be invoked again by the mouth of anyone of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “^(G)As the Lord ^[d]God lives.” ²⁷Behold, I am watching over them ^(H)for harm and not for good, and ^(I)all the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will ^[e]meet their end by the sword or by famine until they ^[f]are completely gone. ²⁸^(J)Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah ^[g]^(K)few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know ^(L)whose word will stand, Mine or theirs. ²⁹And this will be the ^(M)sign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that ^(N)My words will assuredly stand against you for harm.’ ³⁰This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand ^(O)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, to those who seek his life, just as I handed ^(P)Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”

Message to Baruch

45 This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^(Q)Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had ^(R)written these words in a book ^[h]at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the ^(S)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: ²“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch: ³‘You said, “Oh, woe to me! For the Lord has added grief to my pain; I am ^(T)weary with my groaning and have found no rest.”’ ⁴This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, ^(U)what I have built I am going to tear down, and what I have planted I am going to uproot, that is, all the people of the land.” ⁵But as for you, are you ^(V)seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to ^(W)bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the Lord, ‘but I will ^(X)give your life to you as plunder in all the places where you may go.’”

Defeat of Pharaoh Foretold

46 That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet ^(Y)concerning the nations.

²To ^(Z)Egypt, concerning the army of ^(AA)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at ^(AB)Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the ^(AC)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³“^(AD)Set up the ^[i]buckler and shield,
And advance to the battle!
⁴Harness the horses,
And ^[j]mount the steeds,
Take your stand with helmets on!
^(AE)Polish the spears,
Put on the ^(AF)coats of armor!
⁵Why have I seen it?
They are terrified,
They are ^(AG)retreating,
And their ^(AH)warriors are defeated
And have taken refuge in flight,
Without facing back.
^[k]^(AI)Terror is on every side!”
Declares the Lord.
⁶Let not the ^(AJ)swift man flee,
Nor the warrior escape.
In the north beside the river Euphrates
They have ^(AK)stumbled and fallen.
⁷Who is this that ^(AL)rises like the Nile,
Like the rivers whose waters surge?
⁸Egypt rises like the Nile,
And like the rivers whose waters surge;
And He has said, “I will ^(AM)rise and cover that land;
I will ^(AN)destroy the city and its inhabitants.”
⁹Go up, you horses, and ^[l]^(AO)drive wildly, you chariots,
So that the warriors may ^[m]march forward:
^[n]Cush and ^[o]^(AP)Put, who handle the shield,
And the ^[p]^(AQ)Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.
¹⁰For ^(AR)that day belongs to the Lord ^[q]God of armies,
A day of ^(AS)vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes;
And the ^(AT)sword will devour and be satisfied,
And ^[r]drink its fill of their blood;
For there will be a ^(AU)slaughter for the Lord ^[s]God of armies,
In the land of the north at the river Euphrates.
¹¹Go ^(AV)up to Gilead and obtain balm,
^(AW)Virgin daughter of Egypt!
You have used many ^[t]remedies in vain;
There is ^(AX)no healing for you.
¹²The nations have heard of your ^(AY)shame,
And the earth is full of your ^(AZ)cry of distress;
For one ^(BA)warrior has stumbled over ^[u]another,
And both of them have fallen down together.

¹³This is the ^[v]message which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the ^(BB)coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to ^(BC)strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in ^(BD)Migdol,
Proclaim also in Memphis and ^(BE)Tahpanhes;
Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,
For the ^(BF)sword has devoured those around you.’
¹⁵Why have your ^(BG)powerful ones been cut down?
They do not stand because the Lord has ^(BH)thrust them away.
¹⁶They have repeatedly ^(BI)stumbled;
Indeed, they have fallen, one against another.
Then they said, ‘Get up, and ^(BJ)let’s go back
To our own people and our native land,
Away from the ^[w]^(BK)sword of the oppressor!’
¹⁷^[x]They shouted there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but ^(BL)a big noise;
He has let the appointed time pass by!’
¹⁸As I live,” declares the ^(BM)King,
Whose name is the Lord of armies,
“One certainly shall come who is like ^(BN)Tabor among the mountains,
Or like ^(BO)Carmel by the sea.
¹⁹Make your baggage ready for ^(BP)exile,
^(BQ)Daughter living in Egypt,
For ^(BR)Memphis will become a desolation;
It will be destroyed and ^[y]deprived of inhabitants.
²⁰Egypt is a pretty ^(BS)heifer,
But a ^[z]horsefly is coming ^(BT)from the north—it is coming!
²¹Also her ^(BU)mercenaries in her midst
Are like fattened ^(BV)calves,
For they too have turned away and have fled together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their disaster has come upon them,
The time of their ^(BW)punishment.
²²Its sound moves along like a serpent;
For they move on ^[aa]like an army
And come to her as woodcutters with axes.
²³They have cut down her ^(BX)forest,” declares the Lord;
“Certainly it will no longer be found,
Even though ^[ab]they are more numerous than ^(BY)locusts
And are without number.
²⁴The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,
Turned over to the ^[ac]power of the ^(BZ)people of the north.”

²⁵The Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of ^(CA)Thebes, and ^(CB)Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her ^(CC)gods and her kings, indeed, Pharaoh and those who ^(CD)trust in him. ²⁶I shall hand them over to those who are ^(CE)seeking their lives, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to his ^[ad]officers. ^(CF)Afterward, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the Lord.

²⁷“But as for you, Jacob My servant, ^(CG)do not fear,
Nor be dismayed, Israel!
For, see, I am going to ^(CH)save you from far away,
And your descendants from the land of their captivity;
And Jacob will return and be ^(CI)undisturbed
And secure, with no one making him afraid.
²⁸Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the Lord,
“For ^(CJ)I am with you.
For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations
Where I have driven you,
Yet I will ^(CK)not make a complete destruction of you;
But I will ^(CL)correct you properly
And by no means leave you unpunished.”

Prophecy against Philistia

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the ^(CM)Philistines, before Pharaoh ^[ae]conquered ^(CN)Gaza. ²This is what the Lord says:

“Behold, waters are going to rise from ^(CO)the north
And become an overflowing torrent,
And ^(CP)overflow the land and everything that is in it,
The city and those who live in it;
And the people will ^(CQ)cry out,
And every inhabitant of the land will wail.
³Because of the noise of the ^[af]^(CR)galloping hoofs of his ^[ag]stallions,
The roar of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels,
The fathers have not turned back for their children,
Because of the debility of their hands,
⁴Because of the day that is coming
To ^(CS)destroy all the Philistines,
To eliminate from ^(CT)Tyre and Sidon
Every surviving ally;
For the Lord is going to destroy the Philistines,
The remnant of the coastland of ^(CU)Caphtor.
⁵^(CV)Baldness has come upon Gaza;
^(CW)Ashkelon has been destroyed.
Remnant of their valley,
How long will you ^(CX)gash yourself?
⁶Ah, ^(CY)sword of the Lord,
How long will you not be quiet?
Withdraw into your sheath;
Rest and stay still.
⁷How can ^[ah]it be quiet,
When the Lord has ^(CZ)given it an order?
Against Ashkelon and against the sea shore—
There He has ^(DA)summoned it.”