Jeremiah 46-48

New International Version

³ “Prepare your shields,^(G) both large and small,
    and march out for battle!
⁴ Harness the horses,
    mount the steeds!
Take your positions
    with helmets on!
Polish^(H) your spears,
    put on your armor!^(I)
5 What do I see?
    They are terrified,
they are retreating,
    their warriors are defeated.
They flee^(J) in haste
    without looking back,
    and there is terror^(K) on every side,”
declares the Lord.
⁶ “The swift cannot flee^(L)
    nor the strong escape.
In the north by the River Euphrates^(M)
    they stumble and fall.^(N)

⁷ “Who is this that rises like the Nile,
    like rivers of surging waters?^(O)
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,^(P)
    like rivers of surging waters.
She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
    I will destroy cities and their people.’^(Q)
9 Charge, you horses!
    Drive furiously, you charioteers!^(R)
March on, you warriors—men of Cush^[a](S) and Put who carry shields,
    men of Lydia^(T) who draw the bow.
¹⁰ But that day^(U) belongs to the Lord, the Lord Almighty—
    a day of vengeance^(V), for vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour^(W) till it is satisfied,
    till it has quenched its thirst with blood.^(X)
For the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will offer sacrifice^(Y)
    in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.^(Z)

¹¹ “Go up to Gilead and get balm,^(AA)
    Virgin^(AB) Daughter Egypt.
But you try many medicines in vain;
    there is no healing^(AC) for you.
¹² The nations will hear of your shame;
    your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
    both will fall^(AD) down together.”

¹⁴ “Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
    proclaim it also in Memphis^(AG) and Tahpanhes:^(AH)
‘Take your positions and get ready,
    for the sword devours^(AI) those around you.’
¹⁵ Why will your warriors be laid low?
    They cannot stand, for the Lord will push them down.^(AJ)
16 They will stumble^(AK) repeatedly;
    they will fall^(AL) over each other.
They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back
    to our own people^(AM) and our native lands,
    away from the sword of the oppressor.’^(AN)
17 There they will exclaim,
    ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise;^(AO)
    he has missed his opportunity.^(AP)’

¹⁸ “As surely as I live,” declares the King,^(AQ)
    whose name is the Lord Almighty,
“one will come who is like Tabor^(AR) among the mountains,
    like Carmel^(AS) by the sea.
¹⁹ Pack your belongings for exile,^(AT)
    you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis^(AU) will be laid waste^(AV)
    and lie in ruins without inhabitant.

²⁰ “Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
    but a gadfly is coming
    against her from the north.^(AW)
21 The mercenaries^(AX) in her ranks
    are like fattened calves.^(AY)
They too will turn and flee^(AZ) together,
    they will not stand their ground,
for the day^(BA) of disaster is coming upon them,
    the time^(BB) for them to be punished.
²² Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent
    as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
    like men who cut down trees.^(BC)
23 They will chop down her forest,”
declares the Lord,
    “dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,^(BD)
    they cannot be counted.
²⁴ Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
    given into the hands of the people of the north.^(BE)”

²⁷ “Do not be afraid,^(BM) Jacob^(BN) my servant;^(BO)
    do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
    your descendants from the land of their exile.^(BP)
Jacob will again have peace and security,
    and no one will make him afraid.
²⁸ Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
    for I am with you,”^(BQ) declares the Lord.
“Though I completely destroy^(BR) all the nations
    among which I scatter you,
    I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
    I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

“See how the waters are rising in the north;^(BU)
    they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
    the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
    all who dwell in the land will wail^(BV)
3 at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
    at the noise of enemy chariots^(BW)
    and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
    their hands will hang limp.^(BX)
4 For the day has come
    to destroy all the Philistines
and to remove all survivors
    who could help Tyre^(BY) and Sidon.^(BZ)
The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,^(CA)
    the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.^[b](CB)
5 Gaza will shave^(CC) her head in mourning;
    Ashkelon^(CD) will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
    how long will you cut^(CE) yourselves?

⁶ “‘Alas, sword^(CF) of the Lord,
    how long till you rest?
Return to your sheath;
    cease and be still.’^(CG)
7 But how can it rest
    when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
    to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”^(CH)

“Woe to Nebo,^(CK) for it will be ruined.
    Kiriathaim^(CL) will be disgraced and captured;
    the stronghold^[c] will be disgraced and shattered.
² Moab will be praised^(CM) no more;
    in Heshbon^[d](CN) people will plot her downfall:
    ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’^(CO)
You, the people of Madmen,^[e] will also be silenced;
    the sword will pursue you.
³ Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,^(CP)
    cries of great havoc and destruction.
⁴ Moab will be broken;
    her little ones will cry out.^[f]
5 They go up the hill to Luhith,^(CQ)
    weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim^(CR)
    anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
⁶ Flee!^(CS) Run for your lives;
    become like a bush^[g] in the desert.^(CT)
7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches,^(CU)
    you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh^(CV) will go into exile,^(CW)
    together with his priests and officials.^(CX)
8 The destroyer^(CY) will come against every town,
    and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
    and the plateau^(CZ) destroyed,
    because the Lord has spoken.
⁹ Put salt^(DA) on Moab,
    for she will be laid waste^[h];^(DB)
her towns will become desolate,
    with no one to live in them.

¹⁰ “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!
    A curse on anyone who keeps their sword^(DC) from bloodshed!^(DD)

¹¹ “Moab has been at rest^(DE) from youth,
    like wine left on its dregs,^(DF)
not poured from one jar to another—
    she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
    and her aroma is unchanged.
¹² But days are coming,”
    declares the Lord,
“when I will send men who pour from pitchers,
    and they will pour her out;
they will empty her pitchers
    and smash her jars.
¹³ Then Moab will be ashamed^(DG) of Chemosh,^(DH)
    as Israel was ashamed
    when they trusted in Bethel.^(DI)

¹⁴ “How can you say, ‘We are warriors,^(DJ)
    men valiant in battle’?
¹⁵ Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;
    her finest young men^(DK) will go down in the slaughter,^(DL)”
    declares the King,^(DM) whose name is the Lord Almighty.^(DN)
16 “The fall of Moab is at hand;^(DO)
    her calamity will come quickly.
¹⁷ Mourn for her, all who live around her,
    all who know her fame;^(DP)
say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter,^(DQ)
    how broken the glorious staff!’

¹⁸ “Come down from your glory
    and sit on the parched ground,^(DR)
    you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,^(DS)
for the one who destroys Moab
    will come up against you
    and ruin your fortified cities.^(DT)
19 Stand by the road and watch,
    you who live in Aroer.^(DU)
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
    ask them, ‘What has happened?’
²⁰ Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.
    Wail^(DV) and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon^(DW)
    that Moab is destroyed.
²¹ Judgment has come to the plateau^(DX)—
    to Holon,^(DY) Jahzah^(DZ) and Mephaath,^(EA)
22     to Dibon,^(EB) Nebo^(EC) and Beth Diblathaim,
²³     to Kiriathaim,^(ED) Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,^(EE)
24     to Kerioth^(EF) and Bozrah^(EG)—
    to all the towns^(EH) of Moab, far and near.
²⁵ Moab’s horn^[i](EI) is cut off;
    her arm^(EJ) is broken,”
declares the Lord.

²⁶ “Make her drunk,^(EK)
    for she has defied^(EL) the Lord.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;^(EM)
    let her be an object of ridicule.^(EN)
27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?^(EO)
    Was she caught among thieves,^(EP)
that you shake your head^(EQ) in scorn^(ER)
    whenever you speak of her?
²⁸ Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,
    you who live in Moab.
Be like a dove^(ES) that makes its nest
    at the mouth of a cave.^(ET)

²⁹ “We have heard of Moab’s pride^(EU)—
    how great is her arrogance!—
of her insolence, her pride, her conceit
    and the haughtiness^(EV) of her heart.
³⁰ I know her insolence but it is futile,”
declares the Lord,
    “and her boasts^(EW) accomplish nothing.
³¹ Therefore I wail^(EX) over Moab,
    for all Moab I cry out,
    I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.^(EY)
32 I weep for you, as Jazer^(EZ) weeps,
    you vines of Sibmah.^(FA)
Your branches spread as far as the sea^[j];
    they reached as far as^[k] Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
    on your ripened fruit and grapes.
³³ Joy and gladness are gone
    from the orchards and fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine^(FB) from the presses;
    no one treads them with shouts of joy.^(FC)
Although there are shouts,
    they are not shouts of joy.

³⁴ “The sound of their cry rises
    from Heshbon^(FD) to Elealeh^(FE) and Jahaz,^(FF)
from Zoar^(FG) as far as Horonaim^(FH) and Eglath Shelishiyah,
    for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.^(FI)
35 In Moab I will put an end
    to those who make offerings on the high places^(FJ)
    and burn incense^(FK) to their gods,”
declares the Lord.
³⁶ “So my heart laments^(FL) for Moab like the music of a pipe;
    it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth.^(FM)
    The wealth they acquired^(FN) is gone.
³⁷ Every head is shaved^(FO)
    and every beard^(FP) cut off;
every hand is slashed
    and every waist is covered with sackcloth.^(FQ)
38 On all the roofs in Moab
    and in the public squares^(FR)
there is nothing but mourning,
    for I have broken Moab
    like a jar^(FS) that no one wants,”
declares the Lord.
³⁹ “How shattered^(FT) she is! How they wail!
    How Moab turns her back in shame!
Moab has become an object of ridicule,^(FU)
    an object of horror to all those around her.”

“Look! An eagle is swooping^(FV) down,
    spreading its wings^(FW) over Moab.
⁴¹ Kerioth^[l](FX) will be captured
    and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors^(FY)
    will be like the heart of a woman in labor.^(FZ)
42 Moab will be destroyed^(GA) as a nation^(GB)
    because she defied^(GC) the Lord.
⁴³ Terror^(GD) and pit and snare^(GE) await you,
    you people of Moab,”
declares the Lord.
⁴⁴ “Whoever flees^(GF) from the terror
    will fall into a pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
    will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring on Moab
    the year^(GG) of her punishment,”
declares the Lord.

⁴⁵ “In the shadow of Heshbon
    the fugitives stand helpless,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
    a blaze from the midst of Sihon;^(GH)
it burns the foreheads of Moab,
    the skulls^(GI) of the noisy boasters.
⁴⁶ Woe to you, Moab!^(GJ)
    The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
    and your daughters into captivity.

⁴⁷ “Yet I will restore^(GK) the fortunes of Moab
    in days to come,”
declares the Lord.