Jeremiah 46-48

English Standard Version

Judgment on Egypt

46 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^(A)concerning the nations.

²About Egypt. ^(B)Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in ^(C)the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³^(D)“Prepare buckler and shield,
    and advance for battle!
⁴^(E)Harness the horses;
    mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
    ^(F)polish your spears,
    put on your armor!
⁵Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
    and have turned backward.
Their ^(G)warriors are beaten down
    and have fled in haste;
^(H)they look not back—
    ^(I)terror on every side!
declares the Lord.

⁶“The swift cannot flee away,
nor the warrior escape;
^(J)in the north by the river Euphrates
^(K)they have stumbled and fallen.

⁷“Who is this, ^(L)rising like the Nile,
    like rivers ^(M)whose waters surge?
⁸Egypt rises like the Nile,
    like rivers ^(N)whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
    I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
⁹^(O)Advance, O horses,
    and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
    men of Cush and ^(P)Put who handle the shield,
    ^(Q)men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
¹⁰^(R)That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
    ^(S)a day of vengeance,
    ^(T)to avenge himself on his foes.
^(U)The sword shall devour and be sated
    and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds ^(V)a sacrifice
    ^(W)in the north country ^(X)by the river Euphrates.
¹¹^(Y)Go up to Gilead, and take ^(Z)balm,
    O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
    ^(AA)there is no healing for you.
¹²The nations have heard of your shame,
    and the earth is full of your cry;
^(AB)for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
    they have both fallen together.”

¹³The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of ^(AC)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in ^(AD)Migdol;
    proclaim in ^(AE)Memphis and ^(AF)Tahpanhes;
say, ^(AG)‘Stand ready and be prepared,
    for ^(AH)the sword shall devour around you.’
¹⁵Why are your mighty ones face down?
    They do not stand^[a]
    because the Lord thrust them down.
¹⁶He made many stumble, ^(AI)and they fell,
    and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
    and to the land of our birth,
    ^(AJ)because of the sword of the oppressor.’
¹⁷Call the name of ^(AK)Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
    ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

¹⁸^(AL)“As I live, declares the King,
    ^(AM)whose name is the Lord of hosts,
like ^(AN)Tabor among the mountains
    and like ^(AO)Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
¹⁹^(AP)Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
    O ^(AQ)inhabitants of Egypt!
For ^(AR)Memphis shall become a waste,
    a ruin, ^(AS)without inhabitant.

²⁰“A beautiful ^(AT)heifer is Egypt,
    but a biting fly ^(AU)from the north has come upon her.
²¹Even her hired soldiers in her midst
    are like ^(AV)fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
    they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
    ^(AW)the time of their punishment.

²²“She makes ^(AX)a sound like a serpent gliding away;
    for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
    ^(AY)like those who fell trees.
²³^(AZ)They shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
    though it is impenetrable,
because ^(BA)they are more numerous than locusts;
    they are without number.
²⁴The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
    she shall be delivered into the hand of ^(BB)a people from the north.”

²⁵The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon ^(BC)Amon of ^(BD)Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt ^(BE)and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. ²⁶^(BF)I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. ^(BG)Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited ^(BH)as in the days of old, declares the Lord.

²⁷^(BI)“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and none shall make him afraid.
²⁸^(BJ)Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord,
    for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
    to which I have driven you,
    but of you I will not make a full end.
^(BK)I will discipline you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Judgment on the Philistines

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^(BL)concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down ^(BM)Gaza.

²“Thus says the Lord:
^(BN)Behold, waters are rising ^(BO)out of the north,
    ^(BP)and shall become an overflowing torrent;
they shall overflow ^(BQ)the land and all that fills it,
    the city and those who dwell in it.
Men shall cry out,
    and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.
³At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
    ^(BR)at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,
the fathers ^(BS)look not back to their children,
    so feeble are their hands,
⁴because of the day that is coming to destroy
    all ^(BT)the Philistines,
to cut off from ^(BU)Tyre and Sidon
    every helper that remains.
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
    ^(BV)the remnant of the coastland of ^(BW)Caphtor.
⁵^(BX)Baldness has come upon Gaza;
    ^(BY)Ashkelon has perished.
O remnant of their valley,
    ^(BZ)how long will you gash yourselves?
⁶^(CA)Ah, sword of the Lord!
    How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
    rest and be still!
⁷How can it^[b] be quiet
    ^(CB)when the Lord has given it a charge?
Against ^(CC)Ashkelon and against the seashore
    ^(CD)he has appointed it.”

Judgment on Moab

48 ^(CE)Concerning Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to ^(CF)Nebo, for it is laid waste!
    ^(CG)Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame ^(CH)and broken down;
²    the renown of Moab is no more.
In ^(CI)Heshbon they planned disaster against her:
    ‘Come, let us cut her off ^(CJ)from being a nation!’
You also, O ^(CK)Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
    the sword shall pursue you.

³“A voice! A cry from ^(CL)Horonaim,
    ‘Desolation and great destruction!’
⁴Moab is destroyed;
    her little ones have made a cry.
⁵^(CM)For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;^[c]
for ^(CN)at the descent of Horonaim
    they have heard the distressed cry^[d] of destruction.
⁶Flee! Save yourselves!
    You will be like ^(CO)a juniper in the desert!
⁷For, ^(CP)because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
    you also shall be taken;
and ^(CQ)Chemosh ^(CR)shall go into exile
    with ^(CS)his priests and his officials.
⁸^(CT)The destroyer shall come upon every city,
    and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
    and ^(CU)the plain shall be destroyed,
    as the Lord has spoken.

⁹“Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.

¹⁰^(CV)“Cursed is he who does ^(CW)the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

¹¹“Moab has been at ease from his youth
    and has ^(CX)settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
    nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
    and his scent is not changed.

¹²“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his^[e] jars in pieces. ¹³Then ^(CY)Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as ^(CZ)the house of Israel was ashamed of ^(DA)Bethel, their confidence.

¹⁴“How do you say, ‘We are heroes
    and mighty men of war’?
¹⁵The destroyer of ^(DB)Moab and his cities has come up,
    and the choicest of his young men have ^(DC)gone down to slaughter,
    declares ^(DD)the King, ^(DE)whose name is the Lord of hosts.
¹⁶The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
    and his affliction hastens swiftly.
¹⁷^(DF)Grieve for him, all you who are around him,
    and all who know his name;
say, ^(DG)‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
    the glorious staff.’

¹⁸^(DH)“Come down from your glory,
    and sit on the parched ground,
    O inhabitant of ^(DI)Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
    he has destroyed your strongholds.
¹⁹^(DJ)Stand by the way ^(DK)and watch,
    O inhabitant of ^(DL)Aroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
    say, ‘What has happened?’
²⁰Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
    ^(DM)wail and cry!
Tell it beside ^(DN)the Arnon,
    that ^(DO)Moab is laid waste.

²¹“Judgment has come upon ^(DP)the tableland, upon Holon, and ^(DQ)Jahzah, and Mephaath, ²²and ^(DR)Dibon, and ^(DS)Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, ²³and ^(DT)Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and ^(DU)Beth-meon, ²⁴and ^(DV)Kerioth, and ^(DW)Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. ²⁵^(DX)The horn of Moab is cut off, and ^(DY)his arm is broken, declares the Lord.

²⁶^(DZ)“Make him drunk, ^(EA)because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall ^(EB)wallow in his vomit, ^(EC)and he too shall be held in derision. ²⁷^(ED)Was not Israel a derision to you? ^(EE)Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him ^(EF)you wagged your head?

²⁸^(EG)“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
    O inhabitants of Moab!
Be ^(EH)like the dove that nests
    in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
²⁹^(EI)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
    and the haughtiness of his heart.
³⁰I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
    ^(EJ)his boasts are false,
    his deeds are false.
³¹^(EK)Therefore I wail for Moab;
    I cry out for all Moab;
    for the men of ^(EL)Kir-hareseth I mourn.
³²More than for ^(EM)Jazer I weep for you,
    ^(EN)O vine of ^(EO)Sibmah!
^(EP)Your branches passed over the sea,
    reached to the Sea of ^(EQ)Jazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
    the destroyer has fallen.
³³^(ER)Gladness and joy have been taken away
    from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
    no one treads them with shouts of joy;
    the shouting is not the shout of joy.

³⁴^(ES)“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to ^(ET)Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. ³⁵And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in ^(EU)the high place and makes offerings to his god. ³⁶Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of ^(EV)Kir-hareseth. ^(EW)Therefore the riches they gained have perished.

³⁷^(EX)“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. ^(EY)On all the hands are gashes, and ^(EZ)around the waist is sackcloth. ³⁸On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like ^(FA)a vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. ³⁹How it is broken! How they wail! ^(FB)How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab ^(FC)has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

⁴⁰For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, ^(FD)one shall fly swiftly like an eagle
    ^(FE)and spread his wings against Moab;
⁴¹^(FF)the cities shall be taken
    and the strongholds seized.
^(FG)The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
    like the heart of ^(FH)a woman in her birth pains;
⁴²Moab shall be ^(FI)destroyed and be no longer a people,
    because ^(FJ)he magnified himself against the Lord.
⁴³^(FK)Terror, pit, and snare
    are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!
declares the Lord.
⁴⁴He who flees from the terror
    shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
    shall be caught in the snare.
^(FL)For I will bring these things upon Moab,
    the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.

⁴⁵“In the shadow of Heshbon
    fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
    flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed ^(FM)the forehead of Moab,
    the crown of ^(FN)the sons of tumult.
⁴⁶^(FO)Woe to you, O Moab!
    The people of ^(FP)Chemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
    and your daughters into captivity.
⁴⁷^(FQ)Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
    in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 46:15 Hebrew He does not stand
Jeremiah 47:7 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew you
Jeremiah 48:5 Hebrew weeping goes up with weeping
Jeremiah 48:5 Septuagint (compare Isaiah 15:5) heard the cry
Jeremiah 48:12 Septuagint, Aquila; Hebrew their

Hebrews 11

English Standard Version

By Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of ^(A)things not seen. ²For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³By faith we understand that the universe was created by ^(B)the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of ^(C)things that are visible.

⁴By faith ^(D)Abel offered to God ^(E)a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And ^(F)through his faith, though he died, he ^(G)still speaks. ⁵By faith ^(H)Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God ^(I)must believe that he exists and ^(J)that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷By faith ^(K)Noah, being warned by God concerning ^(L)events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of ^(M)the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸By faith ^(N)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place ^(O)that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹By faith he went to live in ^(P)the land of promise, as in a foreign land, ^(Q)living in tents ^(R)with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he was looking forward to ^(S)the city that has ^(T)foundations, ^(U)whose designer and builder is God. ¹¹By faith ^(V)Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered ^(W)him faithful who had promised. ¹²Therefore from one man, and ^(X)him as good as dead, were born descendants ^(Y)as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

¹³These all died in faith, ^(Z)not having received the things promised, but ^(AA)having seen them and greeted them from afar, and ^(AB)having acknowledged that they were ^(AC)strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, ^(AD)they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed ^(AE)to be called their God, for ^(AF)he has prepared for them a city.

¹⁷By faith ^(AG)Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸of whom it was said, ^(AH)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ¹⁹^(AI)He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. ²⁰By faith ^(AJ)Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. ²¹By faith ^(AK)Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, ^(AL)bowing in worship over the head of his staff. ²²By faith ^(AM)Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

²³By faith ^(AN)Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of ^(AO)the king's edict. ²⁴By faith Moses, when he was grown up, ^(AP)refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵^(AQ)choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy ^(AR)the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶^(AS)He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to ^(AT)the reward. ²⁷By faith he ^(AU)left Egypt, ^(AV)not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured ^(AW)as seeing him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith ^(AX)he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

²⁹By faith ^(AY)the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. ³⁰By faith ^(AZ)the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹By faith ^(BA)Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she ^(BB)had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

³²And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of ^(BC)Gideon, ^(BD)Barak, ^(BE)Samson, ^(BF)Jephthah, of ^(BG)David and ^(BH)Samuel and the prophets— ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, ^(BI)stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴^(BJ)quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, ^(BK)became mighty in war, ^(BL)put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵^(BM)Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. ³⁶Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even ^(BN)chains and imprisonment. ³⁷^(BO)They were stoned, they were sawn in two,^[a] ^(BP)they were killed with the sword. ^(BQ)They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ³⁸of whom the world was not worthy—^(BR)wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹And all these, ^(BS)though commended through their faith, ^(BT)did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰since God had provided something better for us, ^(BU)that apart from us they should not be made perfect.