The word of Jehovah which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh-neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side, saith Jehovah.
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.
{Or, Who is this like the Nile that riseth up, like the rivers whose waters toss themselves? Egypt is like the Nile that riseth up &c.}Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
Egypt riseth up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and the inhabitants thereof.
Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.
For that day is a day of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no healing for thee.
The nations have heard of thy shame, and the earth is full of thy cry; for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together.
The word that Jehovah spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.
Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand forth, and prepare thee; for the sword hath devoured round about thee.
Why are thy strong ones swept away? they stood not, because Jehovah did {Or, thrust them down}drive them.
He made many to stumble, yea, they fell one upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
They cried there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is {Or, destroyed}but a noise; he hath let the appointed time pass by.
As I live, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.
{Or, O thou that swellest with the daughter of Egypt}O thou daughter that dwellest in Egypt, {Hebrew: make the vessels of captivity.}furnish thyself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.
Egypt is a very fair heifer; but {Or, the gadfly}destruction out of the north is come, it is come.
Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they did not stand: for the day of their calamity is come upon them, the time of their visitation.
{Or, Her sound is like that of the serpent as it goeth}The sound thereof shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
They shall cut down her forest, saith Jehovah, {Or, for}though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.
The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saith: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and them that trust in him:
and I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith Jehovah.
But fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
Fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; for I am with thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee, but I will correct thee in {Hebrew: judgement.}measure, and will in no wise {Or, hold these guiltless}leave thee unpunished.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 46,13 Jer 46,13
and say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his {Or, glittering}royal pavilion over them.
And he shall come, and shall smite the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall be given to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.
And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
He shall also break the {Or, obelisks}pillars of {Or, The house of the sun Probably, Heliopolis, that is, On. See Genesis 41:50.}Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.
Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of Egypt.Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud, and cometh unto Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
And I will {Or, join together Or, arm}stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
And the spirit of Egypt shall {Hebrew: be emptied.}fail in the midst of it; and I will {Hebrew: swallow up.}destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the {Or, whisperers}charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
And I will {Or, shut up}give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
And the rivers shall become foul; the {Or, canals}streams of {Hebrew: Mazor.}Egypt shall be diminished and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither away.
The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, shall become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
And the fishers shall lament, and all they that cast angle into the Nile shall mourn, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
Moreover they that work in combed flax, and they that weave {Or, cotton}white cloth, shall be confounded.
And {Hebrew: her pillars.}the {Or, foundations}pillars of Egypt shall be broken in pieces; all they {Or, that make dams}that work for hire shall be grieved in soul.
The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
Where then are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now; and let them know what Jehovah of hosts hath purposed concerning Egypt.
The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, that are the corner-stone of her tribes.
Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man {Or, goeth astray}staggereth in his vomit.
Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.
In that day shall the Egyptians be like unto women; and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which he shaketh over them.
And the land of Judah shall become a terror unto Egypt; {Or, every one that maketh mention thereof, to him shall they turn in fear}every one to whom mention is made thereof shall be afraid, because of the purpose of Jehovah of hosts, which he purposeth against it.
In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Jehovah of hosts; one shall be called The city of {Or, Heres Or, according to another reading, the sun.}destruction.
In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah.
And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of oppressors, and he will send them a saviour, and {Or, a mighty one}a defender, and he will deliver them.
And Jehovah shall {Or, make himself known}be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day; yea, they shall worship with sacrifice and oblation, and shall vow a vow unto Jehovah, and shall perform it.
And Jehovah will smite Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return unto Jehovah, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them.
In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians.
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;
for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
{Or, Woe to}Ho {That is, The lion of God Or, The hearth of God.}Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! add ye year to year; let the feasts come round:
then will I distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation; {Or, yet}and she shall be unto me as Ariel.
And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with posted troops, and I will raise siege works against thee.
And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust; and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall {Or, chirp}whisper out of the dust.
But the multitude of thy {Hebrew: strangers.}foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly.
{Or, There shall be a visitation from Jehovah &c.}She shall be visited of Jehovah of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her stronghold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night.
And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
{Or, Be ye amazed}Tarry ye and wonder; {Or, blind yourselves and be blind}take your pleasure and be blind: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
For Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed {Or, your eyes; the prophets, and &c.}your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, hath he covered.
And all vision is become unto you as the words of a {Or, writing}book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that {Hebrew: knoweth writing (or, letters)}is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed:
and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned.
And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been {Or, learned by rote}taught them;
therefore, behold, I will {Or, again do Hebrew: add to do.}proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Woe unto them that hide deep their counsel from Jehovah, and whose works are in the dark, and that say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
{Or, Oh your perversity!}Ye turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it, He made me not; or the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath no understanding?
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of {Or, a book (or, writing)}the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scoffer ceaseth, and all they that watch for iniquity are cut off;
that {Or, make men to offend by their words}make a man an offender {Or, for a word}in his cause, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nought.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
{Or, But when his children see &c.}But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name; yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel.
They also that err in spirit {Hebrew: shall know understanding.}shall come to understanding, and they that murmur shall receive instruction.