Study Desk

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations:^(a)

About Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco, Egypt's king,^(b) which was defeated at Carchemish^(c) on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Judah's King Jehoiakim son of Josiah:^(d)

Deploy small shields^(e) and large; draw near for battle!

Harness the horses; mount the steeds;^[a] take your positions with helmets on! Polish the lances; put on armor!^(f)

Why have I seen this? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are crushed, they flee headlong, they never look back, terror is on every side!^(g) This is the Lord 's declaration.

The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the bank of the Euphrates River, they stumble and fall.^(h)

Who is this, rising like the Nile,⁽ⁱ⁾ like rivers whose waters churn?

Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers. He boasts, "I will go up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities with their residents."

Rise up, you cavalry! Race furiously, you chariots! Let the warriors go out— Cush and Put,^(j) who are able to handle shields, and the Ludim,^(k) who are able to handle and string the bow.^(l)

That day belongs to the Lord, the God of Hosts, a day of vengeance to avenge Himself against His adversaries. The sword will devour and be satisfied; it will drink its fill of their blood, because it will be a sacrifice^(m) to the Lord, the God of Hosts, in the northern land by the Euphrates River.

Go up to Gilead and get balm,⁽ⁿ⁾ Virgin Daughter Egypt! You have multiplied remedies in vain; there is no healing for you.

The nations have heard of your dishonor,^(o) and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles against warrior and together both of them have fallen.

This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to defeat the land of Egypt:^(p)

Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol!^(q) Proclaim it in Memphis and in Tahpanhes! Say: Take positions! Prepare yourself, for the sword devours all around you.^(r)

Why have your strong ones been swept away? Each has not stood, for the Lord has thrust him down.

He continues to stumble.^(s) Indeed, each falls over the other. They say, "Get up! Let's return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword that oppresses."^(t)

There they will cry out, "Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he let the opportune moment pass."

As I live— this is the King's declaration; Yahweh of Hosts is His name.^(u) He will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

Get your bags ready for exile, inhabitant of Daughter Egypt!^(v) For Memphis will become a desolation, uninhabited ruins.

Egypt is a beautiful young cow,^(w) but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.^[b](x)

Even her mercenaries among her are like stall-fed calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee; they will not take their stand, for the day of their calamity is coming on them, the time of their punishment.^(y)

Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake,^[c] for the enemy will come with an army; with axes they will come against her like those who cut trees.^(z)

They will cut down her forest— this is the Lord 's declaration— though it is dense, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.^(aa)

Daughter Egypt will be put to shame, handed over to a northern people.^(ab)

The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes,^(ac) along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings—Pharaoh and those trusting in him.

I will hand them over to those who want to take their lives^(ad)—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this,^(ae) it will be inhabited again as in ancient times." This is the Lord 's declaration.

But you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid,^(af) and do not be discouraged, Israel, for without fail I will save you from far away and your descendants, from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return and have calm and quiet with no one to frighten him.

And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid— this is the Lord 's declaration— for I will be with you.^(ag) I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have banished you, but I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you with justice, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.^(ah)

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines^(a) before Pharaoh defeated Gaza.^(b)

This is what the Lord says: Look, waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing wadi. They will overflow the land and everything in it,^(c) the cities and their inhabitants. The people will cry out, and every inhabitant of the land will wail.

At the sound of the stomping hooves of his stallions,^(d) the rumbling of his chariots, and the clatter of their wheels,^(e) fathers will not turn back for their sons, because they will be utterly helpless^[a]

on account of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally.^(f) Indeed, the Lord is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the islands of Caphtor.^[b](g)

Baldness is coming to Gaza.^(h) Ashkelon will become silent,⁽ⁱ⁾ a remnant of their valley. How long will you gash yourself?

Oh, sword of the Lord !^(j) How long will you be restless? Go back to your sheath; be still; be silent!

How can it^[c] rest when the Lord has given it a command?^(k) He has assigned it^(l) against Ashkelon and the shore of the sea.

About Moab,^(a) this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Woe to Nebo,^(b) because it is about to be destroyed; Kiriathaim will be put to shame;^(c) it will be taken captive. The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!

There is no longer praise for Moab; they plan harm against her in Heshbon:^(d) Come, let's cut her off from nationhood. Also, Madmen,^[a] you will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.

A voice cries out from Horonaim,^(e) "devastation and great disaster!"

Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out.

For on the Ascent to Luhith they will be weeping continually,^[b] and on the descent to Horonaim will be heard cries of distress over the destruction:^(f)

Flee! Save your lives! Be like a juniper bush^[c](g) in the wilderness.

Because you trust in your works^[d] and treasures, you will be captured also. Chemosh^(h) will go into exile with his priests and officials.

The destroyer will move against every town; not one town will escape. The valley will perish, and the plain will be annihilated,⁽ⁱ⁾ as the Lord has said.

Make Moab a salt marsh,^[e](j) for she will run away;^[f] her towns will become a desolation, without inhabitant.

The one who does the Lord 's business deceitfully^[g] is cursed,^(k) and the one who withholds his sword from bloodshed is cursed.

Moab has been left quiet since his youth, settled like wine on its dregs.^(l) He hasn't been poured from one container to another or gone into exile. So his taste has remained the same, and his aroma hasn't changed.

Therefore look, the days are coming— this is the Lord 's declaration— when I will send those to him, who will pour him out. They will empty his containers and smash his jars.

Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was put to shame because of Bethel^(m) that they trusted in.

How can you say, "We are warriors— mighty men ready for battle"?

The destroyer of Moab and its towns has come up,^[h] and the best of its young men have gone down to slaughter. This is the King's declaration; Yahweh of Hosts is His name.⁽ⁿ⁾

Moab's calamity is near at hand; his disaster is rushing swiftly.

Mourn for him, all you surrounding nations, everyone who knows his name. Say: How the mighty scepter^(o) is shattered, the glorious staff!

Come down from glory; sit on parched ground, resident of the daughter of Dibon,^(p) for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.

Stand by the highway and look, resident of Aroer!^(q) Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping:^(r) What happened?

Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.

"Judgment has come to the land of the plateau^(s)—to Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath,

Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim,

Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon,^(t)

Kerioth,^(u) Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, those far and near.

Moab's horn is chopped off;^(v) his arm is shattered." This is the Lord 's declaration.

"Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the Lord .^(w) Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.

Wasn't Israel a laughingstock to you?^(x) Was he ever found among thieves?^(y) For whenever you speak of him you shake your head."

Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs, residents of Moab! Be like a dove that nests inside the mouth of a cave.^(z)

We have heard of Moab's pride, great pride, indeed— his insolence, arrogance, pride, and haughty heart.

I know his outburst. This is the Lord 's declaration. It is empty. His boast is empty.

Therefore, I will wail over Moab. I will cry out for Moab, all of it; he will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah, with more than the weeping for Jazer. Your tendrils have extended to the sea; they have reached to the sea and to Jazer.^[i] The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.

Joy and celebration are taken from the fertile field and from the land of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses; no one will tread with shouts of joy. The shouting is not a shout of joy.^(aa)

"There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices as far as Jahaz^(ab)—from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah—because even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate.

In Moab, I will stop"—this is the Lord 's declaration—"the one who offers sacrifices on the high place and burns incense to his gods.^(ac)

Therefore, My heart moans like flutes for Moab,^(ad) and My heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. And therefore, the wealth he has gained has perished.

Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped;^(ae) on every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist.

On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants."^(af) This is the Lord 's declaration.

"How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him."^(ag)

For this is what the Lord says: He will swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab.^(ah)

The towns have^[j] been captured, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab's warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.^(ai)

Moab will be destroyed as a people because he has exalted himself against the Lord .^(aj)

Panic, pit, and trap await you, resident of Moab. This is the Lord 's declaration.

He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit, and he who climbs from the pit will be captured in the trap, for I will bring against Moab the year of their punishment. This is the Lord 's declaration.^(ak)

Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon's shadow because fire has come out from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It will devour Moab's forehead and the skull of the noisemakers.

Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished because your sons have been taken captive and your daughters have gone into captivity.^(al)

Yet, I will restore the fortunes^[k] of Moab in the last days.^(am) This is the Lord 's declaration. The judgment on Moab ends here.