| New Living Translation | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the LORD concerning foreign nations. Messages about Egypt | 1That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. |
| 2This message concerning Egypt was given in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, on the occasion of the battle of Carchemish when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, and his army were defeated beside the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. | 2To Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: |
| 3“Prepare your shields, and advance into battle! | 3"Line up the shield and buckler, And draw near for the battle! |
| 4Harness the horses, and mount the stallions. Take your positions. Put on your helmets. Sharpen your spears, and prepare your armor. | 4"Harness the horses, And mount the steeds, And take your stand with helmets on! Polish the spears, Put on the scale-armor! |
| 5But what do I see? The Egyptian army flees in terror. The bravest of its fighting men run without a backward glance. They are terrorized at every turn,” says the LORD. | 5"Why have I seen it? They are terrified, They are drawing back, And their mighty men are defeated And have taken refuge in flight, Without facing back; Terror is on every side!" Declares the LORD. |
| 6“The swiftest runners cannot flee; the mightiest warriors cannot escape. By the Euphrates River to the north, they stumble and fall. | 6Let not the swift man flee, Nor the mighty man escape; In the north beside the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen. |
| 7“Who is this, rising like the Nile at floodtime, overflowing all the land? | 7Who is this that rises like the Nile, Like the rivers whose waters surge about? |
| 8It is the Egyptian army, overflowing all the land, boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood, destroying cities and their people. | 8Egypt rises like the Nile, Even like the rivers whose waters surge about; And He has said, "I will rise and cover that land; I will surely destroy the city and its inhabitants." |
| 9Charge, you horses and chariots; attack, you mighty warriors of Egypt! Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia who are skilled with the shield and bow! | 9Go up, you horses, and drive madly, you chariots, That the mighty men may march forward: Ethiopia and Put, that handle the shield, And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. |
| 10For this is the day of the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, a day of vengeance on his enemies. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, yes, until it is drunk with your blood! The Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will receive a sacrifice today in the north country beside the Euphrates River. | 10For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes; And the sword will devour and be satiated And drink its fill of their blood; For there will be a slaughter for the Lord GOD of hosts, In the land of the north by the river Euphrates. |
| 11“Go up to Gilead to get medicine, O virgin daughter of Egypt! But your many treatments will bring you no healing. | 11Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain have you multiplied remedies; There is no healing for you. |
| 12The nations have heard of your shame. The earth is filled with your cries of despair. Your mightiest warriors will run into each other and fall down together.” | 12The nations have heard of your shame, And the earth is full of your cry of distress; For one warrior has stumbled over another, And both of them have fallen down together. |
| 13Then the LORD gave the prophet Jeremiah this message about King Nebuchadnezzar’s plans to attack Egypt. | 13This is the message which the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt: |
| 14“Shout it out in Egypt! Publish it in the cities of Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes! Mobilize for battle, for the sword will devour everyone around you. | 14"Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol, Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, 'Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.' |
| 15Why have your warriors fallen? They cannot stand, for the LORD has knocked them down. | 15"Why have your mighty ones become prostrate? They do not stand because the LORD has thrust them down. |
| 16They stumble and fall over each other and say among themselves, ‘Come, let’s go back to our people, to the land of our birth. Let’s get away from the sword of the enemy!’ | 16"They have repeatedly stumbled; Indeed, they have fallen one against another. Then they said, 'Get up! And let us go back To our own people and our native land Away from the sword of the oppressor.' |
| 17There they will say, ‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity!’ | 17"They cried there, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a big noise; He has let the appointed time pass by!' |
| 18“As surely as I live,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “one is coming against Egypt who is as tall as Mount Tabor, or as Mount Carmel by the sea! | 18"As I live," declares the King Whose name is the LORD of hosts, "Surely one shall come who looms up like Tabor among the mountains, Or like Carmel by the sea. |
| 19Pack up! Get ready to leave for exile, you citizens of Egypt! The city of Memphis will be destroyed, without a single inhabitant. | 19"Make your baggage ready for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt, For Memphis will become a desolation; It will even be burned down and bereft of inhabitants. |
| 20Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way! | 20"Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north-- it is coming! |
| 21Egypt’s mercenaries have become like fattened calves. They, too, will turn and run, for it is a day of great disaster for Egypt, a time of great punishment. | 21"Also her mercenaries in her midst Are like fattened calves, For even they too have turned back and have fled away together; They did not stand their ground. For the day of their calamity has come upon them, The time of their punishment. |
| 22Egypt flees, silent as a serpent gliding away. The invading army marches in; they come against her with axes like woodsmen. | 22"Its sound moves along like a serpent; For they move on like an army And come to her as woodcutters with axes. |
| 23They will cut down her people like trees,” says the LORD, “for they are more numerous than locusts. | 23"They have cut down her forest," declares the LORD; "Surely it will no more be found, Even though they are now more numerous than locusts And are without number. |
| 24Egypt will be humiliated; she will be handed over to people from the north.” | 24"The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame, Given over to the power of the people of the north." |
| 25The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and all the other gods of Egypt. I will punish its rulers and Pharaoh, too, and all who trust in him. | 25The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says, "Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him. |
| 26I will hand them over to those who want them killed—to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. But afterward the land will recover from the ravages of war. I, the LORD, have spoken! | 26"I shall give them over to the power of those who are seeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his officers. Afterwards, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old," declares the LORD. |
| 27“But do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel. For I will bring you home again from distant lands, and your children will return from their exile. Israel will return to a life of peace and quiet, and no one will terrorize them. | 27"But as for you, O Jacob My servant, do not fear, Nor be dismayed, O Israel! For, see, I am going to save you from afar, And your descendants from the land of their captivity; And Jacob will return and be undisturbed And secure, with no one making him tremble. |
| 28Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, for I am with you,” says the LORD. “I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished.” | 28"O Jacob My servant, do not fear," declares the LORD, "For I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations Where I have driven you, Yet I will not make a full end of you; But I will correct you properly And by no means leave you unpunished." |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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