Jeremiah 46 – Jeremiah 49

46 Yahweh’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2 Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

3 “Prepare the buckler and shield,
and draw near to battle!
4 Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen,
and stand up with your helmets.
Polish the spears,
put on the coats of mail.
5 Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed and are turned backward.
Their mighty ones are beaten down,
have fled in haste,
and don’t look back.
Terror is on every side,”
says Yahweh.
6 “Don’t let the swift flee away,
nor the mighty man escape.
In the north by the river Euphrates
they have stumbled and fallen.

7 “Who is this who rises up like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge?
8 Egypt rises up like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge.
He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth.
I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’
9 Go up, you horses!
Rage, you chariots!
Let the mighty men go out:
Cush and Put, who handle the shield;
and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
10 For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies,
a day of vengeance,
that he may avenge himself of his adversaries.
The sword will devour and be satiated,
and will drink its fill of their blood;
for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt.
You use many medicines in vain.
There is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty,
they both fall together.”

13 The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt:

14 “Declare in Egypt,
publish in Migdol,
and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes;
say, ‘Stand up, and prepare,
for the sword has devoured around you.’
15 Why are your strong ones swept away?
They didn’t stand, because Yahweh pushed them.
16 He made many to stumble.
Yes, they fell on one another.
They said, ‘Arise! Let’s go again to our own people,
and to the land of our birth,
from the oppressing sword.’
17 They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise;
he has let the appointed time pass by.’

18 “As I live,” says the King,
whose name is Yahweh of Armies,
“surely like Tabor among the mountains,
and like Carmel by the sea,
so he will come.
19 You daughter who dwells in Egypt,
furnish yourself to go into captivity;
for Memphis will become a desolation,
and will be burned up,
without inhabitant.

20 “Egypt is a very beautiful heifer;
but destruction out of the north has come.
It has come.
21 Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall,
for they also are turned back.
They have fled away together.
They didn’t stand,
for the day of their calamity has come on them,
the time of their visitation.
22 Its sound will go like the serpent,
for they will march with an army,
and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
23 They will cut down her forest,” says Yahweh,
“though it can’t be searched;
because they are more than the locusts,
and are innumerable.
24 The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed;
she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.”

25 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him. 26 I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says Yahweh.

27 “But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant.
Don’t be dismayed, Israel;
for, behold, I will save you from afar,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return,
and will be quiet and at ease.
No one will make him afraid.
28 Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh,
“for I am with you;
for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you,
but I will not make a full end of you,
but I will correct you in measure,
and will in no way leave you unpunished.”

47 Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.

2 Yahweh says:

“Behold, waters rise up out of the north,
and will become an overflowing stream,
and will overflow the land and all that is therein,
the city and those who dwell therein.
The men will cry,
and all the inhabitants of the land will wail.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones,
at the rushing of his chariots,
at the rumbling of his wheels,
the fathers don’t look back for their children
because their hands are so feeble,
4 because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains;
for Yahweh will destroy the Philistines,
the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.
5 Baldness has come on Gaza;
Ashkelon is brought to nothing.
You remnant of their valley,
how long will you cut yourself?

6 “‘You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you are quiet?
Put yourself back into your scabbard;
rest, and be still.’

7 “How can you be quiet,
since Yahweh has given you a command?
Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore,
there he has appointed it.”

48 Of Moab. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says:

“Woe to Nebo!
For it is laid waste.
Kiriathaim is disappointed.
It is taken.
Misgab[a] is put to shame
and broken down.
2 The praise of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they have devised evil against her:
‘Come! Let’s cut her off from being a nation.’
You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence.
The sword will pursue you.
3 The sound of a cry from Horonaim,
desolation and great destruction!
4 Moab is destroyed.
Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5 For they will go up by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping.
For at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.
6 Flee! Save your lives!
Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness.
7 For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures,
you also will be taken.
Chemosh will go out into captivity,
his priests and his princes together.
8 The destroyer will come on every city,
and no city will escape;
the valley also will perish,
and the plain will be destroyed, as Yahweh has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab,
that she may fly and get herself away:
and her cities will become a desolation,
without anyone to dwell in them.

10 “Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently;
and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth,
and he has settled on his dregs,
and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
neither has he gone into captivity;
therefore his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12 Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh,
“that I will send to him those who pour off,
and they will pour him off;
and they will empty his vessels,
and break their containers in pieces.
13 Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

14 “How do you say, ‘We are mighty men,
and valiant men for the war’?
15 Moab is laid waste,
and they have gone up into his cities,
and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,”
says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.
16 “The calamity of Moab is near to come,
and his affliction hurries fast.
17 All you who are around him, bemoan him;
and all you who know his name, say,
‘How the strong staff is broken,
the beautiful rod!’

18 “You daughter who dwells in Dibon,
come down from your glory,
and sit in thirst;
for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you.
He has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch.
Ask him who flees, and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has been done?’
20 Moab is disappointed;
for it is broken down.
Wail and cry!
Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
21 Judgment has come on the plain country—
on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath,
22 on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim,
23 on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon,
24 on Kerioth, on Bozrah,
and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off,
and his arm is broken,” says Yahweh.

26 “Make him drunk,
for he magnified himself against Yahweh.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
and he also will be in derision.
27 For wasn’t Israel a derision to you?
Was he found among thieves?
For as often as you speak of him,
you shake your head.
28 You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock.
Be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.

29 “We have heard of the pride of Moab.
He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride,
his arrogance, and the arrogance of his heart.
30 I know his wrath,” says Yahweh, “that it is nothing;
his boastings have done nothing.
31 Therefore I will wail for Moab.
Yes, I will cry out for all Moab.
They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.
32 With more than the weeping of Jazer
I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah.
Your branches passed over the sea.
They reached even to the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits
and on your vintage.
33 Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field
and from the land of Moab.
I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses.
No one will tread with shouting.
The shouting will be no shouting.
34 From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh,
even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice,
from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah;
for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate.
35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says Yahweh,
“him who offers in the high place,
and him who burns incense to his gods.
36 Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like flutes,
and my heart sounds like flutes for the men of Kir Heres.
Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished.
37 For every head is bald,
and every beard clipped.
There are cuttings on all the hands,
and sackcloth on the waist.
38 On all the housetops of Moab,
and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere;
for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one delights,” says Yahweh.
39 “How it is broken down!
How they wail!
How Moab has turned the back with shame!
So will Moab become a derision
and a terror to all who are around him.”
40 For Yahweh says: “Behold, he will fly as an eagle,
and will spread out his wings against Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken,
and the strongholds are seized.
The heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day
will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 Moab will be destroyed from being a people,
because he has magnified himself against Yahweh.
43 Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you,
inhabitant of Moab,” says Yahweh.
44 “He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit;
and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare,
for I will bring on him, even on Moab,
the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh.

45 “Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon;
for a fire has gone out of Heshbon,
and a flame from the middle of Sihon,
and has devoured the corner of Moab,
and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46 Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh are undone;
for your sons are taken away captive,
and your daughters into captivity.

47 “Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,”
says Yahweh.

Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

49 Of the children of Ammon. Yahweh says:

“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then does Malcam possess Gad,
and his people dwell in its cities?
2 Therefore behold, the days come,”
says Yahweh,
“that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon,
and it will become a desolate heap,
and her daughters will be burned with fire;
then Israel will possess those who possessed him,”
says Yahweh.
3 “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
Cry, you daughters of Rabbah!
Clothe yourself in sackcloth.
Lament, and run back and forth among the fences;
for Malcam will go into captivity,
his priests and his princes together.
4 Why do you boast in the valleys,
your flowing valley, backsliding daughter?
You trusted in her treasures,
saying, ‘Who will come to me?’
5 Behold, I will bring a terror on you,”
says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies,
“from all who are around you.
All of you will be driven completely out,
and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives.

6 “But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,”
says Yahweh.

7 Of Edom, Yahweh of Armies says:

“Is wisdom no more in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee! Turn back!
Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan;
for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him.
9 If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
If thieves came by night,
wouldn’t they steal until they had enough?
10 But I have made Esau bare,
I have uncovered his secret places,
and he will not be able to hide himself.
His offspring is destroyed,
with his brothers and his neighbors;
and he is no more.
11 Leave your fatherless children.
I will preserve them alive.
Let your widows trust in me.”

12 For Yahweh says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished, but you will surely drink. 13 For I have sworn by myself,” says Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.”

14 I have heard news from Yahweh,
and an ambassador is sent among the nations,
saying, “Gather yourselves together!
Come against her!
Rise up to the battle!”

15 “For, behold, I have made you small among the nations,
and despised among men.
16 As for your terror,
the pride of your heart has deceived you,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill,
though you should make your nest as high as the eagle,
I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
17 “Edom will become an astonishment.
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished,
and will hiss at all its plagues.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh,
“no man will dwell there,
neither will any son of man live therein.

19 “Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation;
for I will suddenly make them run away from it,
and whoever is chosen,
I will appoint him over it.
For who is like me?
Who will appoint me a time?
Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?”
20 Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom,
and his purposes that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman:
Surely they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them.
21 The earth trembles at the noise of their fall;
there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.
22 Behold, he will come up and fly as the eagle,
and spread out his wings against Bozrah.
The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

23 Of Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad are confounded,
for they have heard evil news.
They have melted away.
There is sorrow on the sea.
It can’t be quiet.
24 Damascus has grown feeble,
she turns herself to flee,
and trembling has seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
as of a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not forsaken,
the city of my joy?
26 Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day,”
says Yahweh of Armies.
27 “I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.”

28 Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck, Yahweh says:
“Arise, go up to Kedar,
and destroy the children of the east.
29 They will take their tents and their flocks.
they will carry away for themselves their curtains,
all their vessels, and their camels;
and they will cry to them, ‘Terror on every side!’
30 Flee!
Wander far off!
Dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor,” says Yahweh;
“for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you,
and has conceived a purpose against you.
31 Arise! Go up to a nation that is at ease,
that dwells without care,” says Yahweh;
“that has neither gates nor bars,
that dwells alone.
32 Their camels will be a booty,
and the multitude of their livestock a plunder.
I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off;
and I will bring their calamity from every side of them,”
says Yahweh.
33 Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals,
a desolation forever.
No man will dwell there,
neither will any son of man live therein.”

34 Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35 “Yahweh of Armies says:

‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
the chief of their might.
36 I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky,
and will scatter them toward all those winds.
There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come.
37 I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,
and before those who seek their life.
I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,’ says Yahweh;
‘and I will send the sword after them,
until I have consumed them.
38 I will set my throne in Elam,
and will destroy from there king and princes,’ says Yahweh.
39 ‘But it will happen in the latter days
that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says Yahweh.”