God’s Sign to the People in Egypt

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes: “Pick up some large stones and set them in the mortar of the brick pavement that is at the opening of Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes. Do this in the sight of the Judean men 10 and tell them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will place his throne on these stones that I have embedded, and he will pitch his pavilion over them. 11 He will come and strike down the land of Egypt(A)—those destined for death, to death; those destined for captivity, to captivity; and those destined for the sword,(B) to the sword. 12 I[a] will kindle a fire in the temples of Egypt’s gods,(C) and he will burn them and take them prisoner. He will clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks lice off[b] his garment,(D) and he will leave there unscathed. 13 He will smash the sacred pillars of the sun temple[c][d] in the land of Egypt and burn down the temples of the Egyptian gods.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 43:12 LXX, Syr, Vg read He
  2. Jeremiah 43:12 Or will wrap himself in the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in
  3. Jeremiah 43:13 Or Beth-shemesh
  4. Jeremiah 43:13 = of Heliopolis

Then at Tahpanhes, the Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “While the people of Judah are watching, take some large rocks and bury them under the pavement stones at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace here in Tahpanhes. 10 Then say to the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring my servant Nebuchadnezzar,[a] king of Babylon, here to Egypt. I will set his throne over these stones that I have hidden. He will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 And when he comes, he will destroy the land of Egypt. He will bring death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and war to those destined for war. 12 He will set fire to the temples of Egypt’s gods; he will burn the temples and carry the idols away as plunder. He will pick clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks fleas from his cloak. And he himself will leave unharmed. 13 He will break down the sacred pillars standing in the temple of the sun[b] in Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of Egypt’s gods.’”

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Footnotes

  1. 43:10 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
  2. 43:13 Or in Heliopolis.