Bible Browser

46The word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the nations. ²Concerning Egypt, about the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah: ³Prepare buckler and shield, and advance for battle! ⁴Harness the horses; mount the steeds! Take your stations with your helmets, whet your lances, put on your coats of mail! ⁵Why do I see them terrified? They have fallen back; their warriors are beaten down, and have fled in haste. They do not look back— terror is all around! says the Lord. ⁶The swift cannot flee away, nor can the warrior escape; in the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. ⁷Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge? ⁸Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. It said, Let me rise, let me cover the earth, let me destroy cities and their inhabitants. ⁹Advance, O horses, and dash madly, O chariots! Let the warriors go forth: Ethiopia and Put who carry the shield, the Ludim, who draw the bow. ¹⁰That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of retribution, to gain vindication from his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated, and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the land of the north by the river Euphrates. ¹¹Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for warrior has stumbled against warrior; both have fallen together. ¹³The word that the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt: ¹⁴Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, “Take your stations and be ready, for the sword shall devour those around you.” ¹⁵Why has Apis fled? Why did your bull not stand? —because the Lord thrust him down. ¹⁶Your multitude stumbled and fell, and one said to another, “Come, let us go back to our own people and to the land of our birth, because of the destroying sword.” ¹⁷Give Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the name “Braggart who missed his chance.” ¹⁸As I live, says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts, one is coming like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea. ¹⁹Pack your bags for exile, sheltered daughter Egypt! For Memphis shall become a waste, a ruin, without inhabitant. ²⁰A beautiful heifer is Egypt— a gadfly from the north lights upon her. ²¹Even her mercenaries in her midst are like fatted calves; they too have turned and fled together, they did not stand; for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their punishment. ²²She makes a sound like a snake gliding away; for her enemies march in force, and come against her with axes, like those who fell trees. ²³They shall cut down her forest, says the Lord, though it is impenetrable, because they are more numerous than locusts; they are without number. ²⁴Daughter Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be handed over to a people from the north. ²⁵The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: See, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. ²⁶I will hand them over to those who seek their life, to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the Lord. ²⁷But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for I am going to save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and no one shall make him afraid. ²⁸As for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord, for I am with you. I will make an end of all the nations among which I have banished you, but I will not make an end of you! I will chastise you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

47The word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh attacked Gaza: ²Thus says the Lord: See, waters are rising out of the north and shall become an overflowing torrent; they shall overflow the land and all that fills it, the city and those who live in it. People shall cry out, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail. ³At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions, at the clatter of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels, parents do not turn back for children, so feeble are their hands, ⁴because of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remains. For the Lord is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor. ⁵Baldness has come upon Gaza, Ashkelon is silenced. O remnant of their power! How long will you gash yourselves? ⁶Ah, sword of the Lord! How long until you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard, rest and be still! ⁷How can it be quiet, when the Lord has given it an order? Against Ashkelon and against the seashore— there he has appointed it.

48Concerning Moab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Alas for Nebo, it is laid waste! Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; the fortress is put to shame and broken down; ²the renown of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they planned evil against her: “Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!” You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue you. ³Hark! a cry from Horonaim, “Desolation and great destruction!” ⁴“Moab is destroyed!” her little ones cry out. ⁵For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping bitterly; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distressing cry of anguish. ⁶Flee! Save yourselves! Be like a wild ass in the desert! ⁷Surely, because you trusted in your strongholds and your treasures, you also shall be taken; Chemosh shall go out into exile, with his priests and his attendants. ⁸The destroyer shall come upon every town, and no town shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord has spoken. ⁹Set aside salt for Moab, for she will surely fall; her towns shall become a desolation, with no inhabitant in them. ¹⁰Accursed is the one who is slack in doing the work of the Lord; and accursed is the one who keeps back the sword from bloodshed. ¹¹Moab has been at ease from his youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; therefore his flavor has remained and his aroma is unspoiled. ¹²Therefore, the time is surely coming, says the Lord, when I shall send to him decanters to decant him, and empty his vessels, and break his jars in pieces. ¹³Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

¹⁴How can you say, “We are heroes and mighty warriors”? ¹⁵The destroyer of Moab and his towns has come up, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. ¹⁶The calamity of Moab is near at hand and his doom approaches swiftly. ¹⁷Mourn over him, all you his neighbors, and all who know his name; say, “How the mighty scepter is broken, the glorious staff!” ¹⁸Come down from glory, and sit on the parched ground, enthroned daughter Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; he has destroyed your strongholds. ¹⁹Stand by the road and watch, you inhabitant of Aroer! Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping; say, “What has happened?” ²⁰Moab is put to shame, for it is broken down; wail and cry! Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. ²¹Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath, ²²and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, ²³and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, ²⁴and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near. ²⁵The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord. ²⁶Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the Lord; let Moab wallow in his vomit; he too shall become a laughingstock. ²⁷Israel was a laughingstock for you, though he was not caught among thieves; but whenever you spoke of him you shook your head! ²⁸Leave the towns, and live on the rock, O inhabitants of Moab! Be like the dove that nests on the sides of the mouth of a gorge. ²⁹We 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. ³⁰I myself know his insolence, says the Lord; his boasts are false, his deeds are false. ³¹Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the people of Kir-heres I mourn. ³²More than for Jazer I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your branches crossed over the sea, reached as far as Jazer; upon your summer fruits and your vintage the destroyer has fallen. ³³Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have stopped the wine from the wine presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy. ³⁴Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate. ³⁵And I will bring to an end in Moab, says the Lord, those who offer sacrifice at a high place and make offerings to their gods. ³⁶Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the people of Kir-heres; for the riches they gained have perished. ³⁷For every head is shaved and every beard cut off; on all the hands there are gashes, and on the loins sackcloth. ³⁸On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation; for I have broken Moab like a vessel that no one wants, says the Lord. ³⁹How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all his neighbors. ⁴⁰For thus says the Lord: Look, he shall swoop down like an eagle, and spread his wings against Moab; ⁴¹the towns shall be taken and the strongholds seized. The hearts of the warriors of Moab, on that day, shall be like the heart of a woman in labor. ⁴²Moab shall be destroyed as a people, because he magnified himself against the Lord. ⁴³Terror, pit, and trap are before you, O inhabitants of Moab! says the Lord. ⁴⁴Everyone who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit, and everyone who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the trap. For I will bring these things upon Moab in the year of their punishment, says the Lord. ⁴⁵In the shadow of Heshbon fugitives stop exhausted; for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a flame from the house of Sihon; it has destroyed the forehead of Moab, the scalp of the people of tumult. ⁴⁶Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished, for your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters into captivity. ⁴⁷Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, says the Lord. Thus far is the judgment on Moab.

49Concerning the Ammonites. Thus says the Lord: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad, and his people settled in its towns? ²Therefore, the time is surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sound the battle alarm against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it shall become a desolate mound, and its villages shall be burned with fire; then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him, says the Lord. ³Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth, lament, and slash yourselves with whips! For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his attendants. ⁴Why do you boast in your strength? Your strength is ebbing, O faithless daughter. You trusted in your treasures, saying, “Who will attack me?” ⁵I am going to bring terror upon you, says the Lord God of hosts, from all your neighbors, and you will be scattered, each headlong, with no one to gather the fugitives. ⁶But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, says the Lord.

⁷Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? ⁸Flee, turn back, get down low, inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him. ⁹If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, even they would pillage only what they wanted. ¹⁰But as for me, I have stripped Esau bare, I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to conceal himself. His offspring are destroyed, his kinsfolk and his neighbors; and he is no more. ¹¹Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me. ¹²For thus says the Lord: If those who do not deserve to drink the cup still have to drink it, shall you be the one to go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished; you must drink it. ¹³For by myself I have sworn, says the Lord, that Bozrah shall become an object of horror and ridicule, a waste, and an object of cursing; and all her towns shall be perpetual wastes. ¹⁴I have heard tidings from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Gather yourselves together and come against her, and rise up for battle!” ¹⁵For I will make you least among the nations, despised by humankind. ¹⁶The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Although you make your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord. ¹⁷Edom shall become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. ¹⁸As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were overthrown, says the Lord, no one shall live there, nor shall anyone settle in it. ¹⁹Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly chase Edom away from it; and I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who can summon me? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me? ²⁰Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ²¹At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. ²²Look, he shall mount up and swoop down like an eagle, and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom in that day shall be like the heart of a woman in labor.

²³Concerning Damascus. Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard bad news; they melt in fear, they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet. ²⁴Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, and panic seized her; anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in labor. ²⁵How the famous city is forsaken, the joyful town! ²⁶Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, says the Lord of hosts. ²⁷And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.

²⁸Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord: Rise up, advance against Kedar! Destroy the people of the east! ²⁹Take their tents and their flocks, their curtains and all their goods; carry off their camels for yourselves, and a cry shall go up: “Terror is all around!” ³⁰Flee, wander far away, hide in deep places, O inhabitants of Hazor! says the Lord. For King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has made a plan against you and formed a purpose against you. ³¹Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, that lives secure, says the Lord, that has no gates or bars, that lives alone. ³²Their camels shall become booty, their herds of cattle a spoil. I will scatter to every wind those who have shaven temples, and I will bring calamity against them from every side, says the Lord. ³³Hazor shall become a lair of jackals, an everlasting waste; no one shall live there, nor shall anyone settle in it.

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. ³⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am going to break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might; ³⁶and I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven; and I will scatter them to all these winds, and there shall be no nation to which the exiles from Elam shall not come. ³⁷I will terrify Elam before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, says the Lord. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them; ³⁸and I will set my throne in Elam, and destroy their king and officials, says the Lord. ³⁹But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, says the Lord.