Old/New Testament
Judgment on Egypt
46 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations:
2 Concerning Egypt, about the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was by the River Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3 Order the buckler and shield,
and draw near to battle!
4 Harness the horses;
mount the steeds!
Take your positions
with your helmets,
polish the spears,
put on the armor!
5 Why have I seen them
dismayed and drawing back?
Their mighty ones are beaten down
and have taken refuge in flight,
and not looking back.
Terror is on every side!
says the Lord.
6 Let not the swift flee away,
nor the mighty man escape;
they will stumble and fall
towards the north by the River Euphrates.
7 Who is this that comes up as the Nile,
whose waters surge about as the rivers?
8 Egypt rises up like the Nile,
and his waters surge about like the rivers.
And he has said, I will go up and will cover the land.
I will surely destroy the city and its inhabitants.
9 Come up, O horses,
and rage, O chariots!
And let the mighty men come forth:
the Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield,
and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
10 For this is the day of the Lord God of Hosts,
a day of vengeance, so that He may avenge Himself of His adversaries.
And the sword will devour;
and it will be satiated and made drunk with their blood;
for the Lord God of Hosts has a slaughter
in the north country by the River Euphrates.
11 Go up into Gilead and take balm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt;
in vain you shall use many medicines,
for you will not be cured.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
and your cry has filled the land;
for the mighty man has stumbled over the mighty,
and they both have fallen together.
Defeat of Egypt Foretold
13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, about Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon coming to strike the land of Egypt.
14 Declare in Egypt and publish in Migdol,
and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes;
say, “Stand fast and prepare yourself,
for the sword will devour those about you.”
15 Why have your valiant men become prostrate?
They do not stand because the Lord has thrust them down.
16 He made many to fall.
Indeed, each one has fallen upon another.
Then they said, “Arise and let us go back
to our own people and to the land of our nativity,
away from the oppressing sword.”
17 They cried there,
“Pharaoh king of Egypt is a tumult.
He has let the time appointed pass by!”
18 As I live, says the King
whose name is the Lord of Hosts,
surely as Tabor is among the mountains,
and as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.
19 O daughter dwelling in Egypt,
prepare your baggage for captivity,
for Memphis will become desolate,
it will even be burned down without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer,
but destruction comes,
it comes out of the north.
21 Also her mercenaries are in her midst
like fat bulls,
for they also have turned back and have fled away together.
They did not stand their ground
because the day of their calamity has come upon them,
even the time of their punishment.
22 Its sound goes along like a serpent,
for they march on as an army,
and come against her with axes,
as choppers of wood.
23 They have cut down her forest,
says the Lord.
Surely it will not be found any more,
even though they are now more numerous than the grasshoppers,
and are innumerable.
24 The daughter of Egypt has been humiliated;
she has been delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25 The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: See, I will punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings, even Pharaoh and all those who trust in him. 26 And I shall deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. But afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old, says the Lord.
God Will Save Israel
27 But do not fear, O My servant Jacob,
and do not be dismayed, O Israel.
For I will save you from afar off,
and your seed from the land of their captivity;
and Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease,
and no one shall make him afraid.
28 Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,
says the Lord, for I am with you;
for I will make a full end of all the nations
where I have driven you.
However, I will not make a full end of you,
but correct you in measure,
and I will not leave you wholly unpunished.
Judgment on the Philistines
47 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.
2 Thus says the Lord:
See, waters rise up out of the north
and will be an overflowing flood,
and will overflow the land, and all that is in it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
Then the men shall cry out
and all the inhabitants of the land will howl
3 at the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,
at the rushing of his chariots,
and at the rumbling of his wheels.
The fathers will not look back to their children
because of the feebleness of their hands,
4 because of the day that comes
to destroy all the Philistines
and to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
every helper that remains.
For the Lord will destroy the Philistines,
the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness has come upon Gaza;
Ashkelon has been cut off.
O remnant of their valley,
how long shall you gash yourself?
6 O sword of the Lord,
how long shall you not be quiet?
Withdraw into your sheath,
rest, and be still.
7 How can it be quiet,
seeing the Lord has given it a charge
against Ashkelon and against the sea shore?
There He has appointed it.
6 Therefore, leaving the elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 This we will do if God permits.
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to be renewed once more to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and subject Him to public shame. 7 For land that drinks in the rain that often falls upon it and bears a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But land that bears thorns and thistles is rejected and near to being cursed. Its destiny is to be burned.
9 But though we speak in this manner, we are persuaded of better things for you, things that accompany salvation, 10 for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and labor of love that you have shown for His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and continue ministering. 11 We desire that every one of you show the same diligence for the full assurance of hope to the end, 12 so that you may not be lazy, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Sure Promise of God
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could vow by no one greater, He vowed by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you, and surely I will multiply you.”[a] 15 So after Abraham had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men indeed swear by a greater authority than themselves, and for them an oath of confirmation ends all dispute. 17 So God, wanting to show more abundantly the immutability of His counsel to the heirs of promise, confirmed it by an oath. 18 So that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, which enters the Inner Place behind the veil. 20 This is where Jesus has entered for us as a forerunner, since He has become the everlasting High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.