International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
1This is the message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. | 1The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the LORD concerning foreign nations. Messages about Egypt |
2To Egypt: Concerning the army of King Pharaoh Neco of Egypt, which was encamped by the Euphrates River at Carchemish and which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah. | 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. |
3"Prepare buckler and shield, and advance into the battle! | 3“Prepare your shields, and advance into battle! |
4Harness the horses! Riders, mount up! Take your positions with your helmets! Polish lances, and put on armor! | 4Harness the horses, and mount the stallions. Take your positions. Put on your helmets. Sharpen your spears, and prepare your armor. |
5Why am I seeing this? They're terrified, they have turned back. Their warriors are crushed, and they take flight. They don't look back. Terror is on every side," declares the LORD. | 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. |
6"The swift cannot flee, nor can the strong escape. In the north, beside the Euphrates River, they stumble and fall. | 6“The swiftest runners cannot flee; the mightiest warriors cannot escape. By the Euphrates River to the north, they stumble and fall. |
7Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge? | 7“Who is this, rising like the Nile at floodtime, overflowing all the land? |
8Egypt is rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He says, 'I'll rise and cover the land. I'll destroy the city and its inhabitants.' | 8It is the Egyptian army, overflowing all the land, boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood, destroying cities and their people. |
9Horses, get up! Chariots, drive furiously! Let the warriors go forward, Ethiopia and Put, who carry shields, and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow. | 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! |
10That day belongs to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. It is a day of vengeance to take vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour and be satisfied, and will drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north, by the Euphrates river. | 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. |
11Go up to Gilead and get balm, virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you multiply remedies, but there is no healing for you. | 11“Go up to Gilead to get medicine, O virgin daughter of Egypt! But your many treatments will bring you no healing. |
12The nations have heard of your disgrace, and your cry of distress fills the earth. Indeed, one warrior stumbles over another, and both of them fall down together." | 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.” |
13This is the message that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to conquer the land of Egypt. | 13Then the LORD gave the prophet Jeremiah this message about King Nebuchadnezzar’s plans to attack Egypt. |
14"Announce in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol. Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes. Say, 'Take your positions and be ready, for the sword will devour all around you.' | 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. |
15Why are your warriors prostrate? They don't stand because the LORD has brought them down. | 15Why have your warriors fallen? They cannot stand, for the LORD has knocked them down. |
16They repeatedly stumble and fall. They say to each other, 'Get up! Let's go back to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressor's sword.' | 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!’ |
17There they'll cry out, 'Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just a big noise. He has let the appointed time pass by.' | 17There they will say, ‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity!’ |
18As certainly as I'm alive and living," declares the King, whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "Indeed, one will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea. | 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! |
19Prepare your baggage for exile, daughter living in Egypt, for Memphis will become a desolate place. It will become a ruin without inhabitant. | 19Pack up! Get ready to leave for exile, you citizens of Egypt! The city of Memphis will be destroyed, without a single inhabitant. |
20Egypt is a beautiful calf, but a horsefly from the north is surely coming. | 20Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way! |
21Even the mercenary troops in her ranks are like a fattened calf. They too will turn around, and will flee together. They won't stand, for the day of their disaster is coming on them, the time of their punishment. | 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. |
22Her cry will be like that of a fleeing serpent when they come in strength. They're coming to her with axes like woodcutters. | 22Egypt flees, silent as a serpent gliding away. The invading army marches in; they come against her with axes like woodsmen. |
23They'll cut down her forest, though it's impenetrable," declares the LORD, "for they're more numerous than locusts, and there are too many of them to count. | 23They will cut down her people like trees,” says the LORD, “for they are more numerous than locusts. |
24The daughter of Egypt will be put to shame, she will be given into the hands of the people from the north." | 24Egypt will be humiliated; she will be handed over to people from the north.” |
25The LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says, "Look, I'm going to punish Amon of Thebes, Pharaoh, Egypt, its gods and its kings, Pharaoh, and those who trust in him. | 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. |
26I'll give them to those who are seeking their lives and to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his officers. Then afterwards, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past," declares the LORD. | 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! |
27"As for you, my servant Jacob, don't be afraid, and Israel, don't be dismayed. For I'll deliver you from a distant place, and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return. He will be undisturbed and secure, and no one will cause him to fear. | 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. |
28"As for you, my servant Jacob, don't be afraid, and Israel, don't be dismayed," declares the LORD, "for I am with you. Indeed, I'll make an end of all the nations where I scattered you; but I won't make an end of you! I'll discipline you justly, but I'll certainly not leave you unpunished." | 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.” |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | 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. |
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