Jeremiah 46–49: The Nations Weighed: Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Elam
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
This is the word of the LORD about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:
“Deploy your shields, small and large;advance for battle!Harness the horses; mount the steeds;take your positions with helmets on!Polish your spears;put on armor!
Why am I seeing this?
They are terrified,they are retreating;their warriors are defeated,they flee in haste without looking back;terror is on every side!”declares the LORD.“The swift cannot flee,and the warrior cannot escape!In the north by the River Euphratesthey stumble and fall.
Who is this, rising like the Nile,like rivers whose waters churn?Egypt rises like the Nile,and its waters churn like rivers,boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;I will destroy the cities and their people.’
Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots!Let the warriors come forth—Cush and Put carrying their shields,men of Lydia drawing the bow.For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts,a day of vengeance against his foes.The sword will devour until it is satisfied,until it is quenched with their blood.For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrificein the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
Go up to Gilead for balm,O Virgin Daughter of Egypt!In vain you try many remedies,but for you there is no healing.The nations have heard of your shame,and your outcry fills the earth,because warrior stumbles over warriorand both of them have fallen together.”
This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
“Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes:‘Take your positions and prepare yourself,for the sword devours those around you.’Why have your warriors been laid low?They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.They continue to stumble;indeed, they have fallen over one another.They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our peopleand to the land of our birth,away from the sword of the oppressor.’
There they will cry out:‘Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise;he has let the appointed time pass him by.’
As surely as I live, declares the King,whose name is the LORD of Hosts,there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountainsand like Carmel by the sea.Pack your bags for exile,O daughter dwelling in Egypt!For Memphis will be laid waste,destroyed and uninhabited.
Egypt is a beautiful heifer,but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.Even the mercenaries among herare like fattened calves.They too will turn back;together they will flee, they will not stand their ground,for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time of their punishment.
Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent,for the enemy will advance in force;with axes they will come against herlike woodsmen cutting down trees.They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD,dense though it may be,for they are more numerous than locusts;they cannot be counted.The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame;she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”
The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I am about to punish Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt with her gods and kings, and those who trust in Pharaoh. I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives—of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.
But you, O Jacob my servant, do not be afraid,and do not be dismayed, O Israel.For I will surely save you out of a distant place,your descendants from the land of their captivity!Jacob will return to quiet and ease,with no one to make him afraid.And you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid,declares the LORD, for I am with you.Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you,I will not completely destroy you.Yet I will discipline you justly,and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh struck down Gaza. This is what the LORD says:
“See how the waters are rising from the northand becoming an overflowing torrent.They will overflow the land and its fullness,the cities and their inhabitants.The people will cry out,and all who dwell in the land will wailat the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions,the rumbling of chariots,and the clatter of their wheels.The fathers will not turn back for their sons;their hands will hang limp.
For the day has cometo destroy all the Philistines,to cut off from Tyre and Sidonevery remaining ally.Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines,the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning;Ashkelon will be silenced.O remnant of their valley,how long will you gash yourself?
‘Alas, O sword of the LORD,how long until you rest?Return to your sheath;cease and be still!’
How can it restwhen the LORD has commanded it?He has appointed it against Ashkelonand the shore of its coastland.”
Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo,for it will be devastated.Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced;the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.There is no longer praise for Moab;in Heshbon they devise evil against her:‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’
You too, O people of Madmen, will be silenced;the sword will pursue you.A voice cries out from Horonaim:‘Devastation and great destruction!’Moab will be shattered;her little ones will cry out.
For on the ascent to Luhiththey weep bitterly as they go,and on the descent to Horonaimcries of distress resoundover the destruction:‘Flee! Run for your lives!Become like a juniper in the desert.’
Because you trust in your works and treasures,you too will be captured,and Chemosh will go into exilewith his priests and officials.The destroyer will move against every city,and not one town will escape.The valley will also be ruined,and the high plain will be destroyed,as the LORD has said.
Put salt on Moab,for she will be laid waste;her cities will become desolate,with no one to dwell in them.Cursed is the one who is remissin doing the work of the LORD,and cursed is he who withholdshis sword from bloodshed.
Moab has been at ease from youth,settled like wine on its dregs;he has not been poured from vessel to vesselor gone into exile.So his flavor has remained the same,and his aroma is unchanged.Therefore behold, the days are coming,declares the LORD,when I will send to him wanderers,who will pour him out.They will empty his vesselsand shatter his jars.Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,just as the house of Israel was ashamedwhen they trusted in Bethel.
How can you say, ‘We are warriors,mighty men ready for battle’?Moab has been destroyedand its towns have been invaded;the best of its young menhave gone down in the slaughter,declares the King,whose name is the LORD of Hosts.Moab’s calamity is at hand,and his affliction is rushing swiftly.Mourn for him, all you who surround him,everyone who knows his name;tell how the mighty scepter is shattered—the glorious staff!
Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground,O daughter dwelling in Dibon,for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;he has destroyed your fortresses.Stand by the road and watch,O dweller of Aroer!Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping,‘What has happened?’Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered.Wail and cry out!Declare by the Arnonthat Moab is destroyed.
Judgment has come upon the high plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab,those far and near.
The horn of Moab has been cut off,and his arm is broken,”declares the LORD.“Make him drunk,because he has magnified himself against the LORD;so Moab will wallow in his own vomit,and he will also become a laughingstock.Was not Israel your object of ridicule?Was he ever found among thieves?For whenever you speak of himyou shake your head.
Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks,O dwellers of Moab!Be like a dovethat nests at the mouth of a cave.We have heard of Moab’s pomposity,his exceeding pride and conceit,his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.I know his insolence,”declares the LORD,“but it is futile.His boasting is as empty as his deeds.
Therefore I will wail for Moab;I will cry out for all of Moab;I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah,more than I weep for Jazer.Your tendrils have extended to the sea;they reach even to Jazer.The destroyer has descendedon your summer fruit and grape harvest.Joy and gladness are removed from the orchardand from the fields of Moab.I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;no one treads them with shouts of joy;their shouts are not for joy.
There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh;they raise their voices to Jahaz,from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah;for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
In Moab, declares the LORD,I will bring an endto those who make offerings on the high placesand burn incense to their gods.Therefore my heart laments like a flute for Moab;it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres,because the wealth they acquired has perished.
For every head is shavedand every beard is clipped;on every hand is a gash,and around every waist is sackcloth.On all the rooftops of Moaband in the public squares,everyone is mourning;for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,”declares the LORD.“How shattered it is! How they wail!How Moab has turned his back in shame!Moab has become an object of ridicule and horrorto all those around him.”
For this is what the LORD says:
“Behold, an eagle swoops downand spreads his wings against Moab.Kirioth has been taken,and the strongholds seized.In that day the heart of Moab’s warriorswill be like the heart of a woman in labor.Moab will be destroyed as a nationbecause he vaunted himself against the LORD.
Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,”declares the LORD.“Whoever flees the panicwill fall into the pit,and whoever climbs from the pitwill be caught in the snare.For I will bring upon Moabthe year of their punishment,”declares the LORD.“Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow,because fire has gone forth from Heshbonand a flame from within Sihon.It devours the foreheads of Moaband the skulls of the sons of tumult.Woe to you, O Moab!The people of Chemosh have perished;for your sons have been taken into exileand your daughters have gone into captivity.Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity,”declares the LORD.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.
Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says:
“Has Israel no sons?Is he without heir?Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad?Why have his people settled in their cities?Therefore, behold, the days are coming,declares the LORD,when I will sound the battle cryagainst Rabbah of the Ammonites.It will become a heap of ruins,and its villages will be burned.Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors,says the LORD.Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed;cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!Put on sackcloth and mourn;run back and forth within your walls,for Milcom will go into exiletogether with his priests and officials.Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful,O faithless daughter?You trust in your riches and say,‘Who can come against me?’
Behold, I am about to bring terror upon you,declares the Lord GOD of Hosts,from all those around you.You will each be driven headlong,with no one to regather the fugitives.Yet afterward I will restore the Ammonites from captivity,”declares the LORD.
Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says:
“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?Has counsel perished from the prudent?Has their wisdom decayed?Turn and run!Lie low, O dwellers of Dedan,for I will bring disaster on Esauat the time I punish him.
If grape gatherers came to you,would they not leave some gleanings?Were thieves to come in the night,would they not steal only what they wanted?But I will strip Esau bare;I will uncover his hiding places,and he will be unable to conceal himself.His descendants will be destroyedalong with his relatives and neighbors,and he will be no more.
Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives.Let your widows trust in me.”
For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too. For by myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”
I have heard a message from the LORD;an envoy has been sent to the nations:“Assemble yourselves to march against her!Rise up for battle!”
“For behold, I will make you small among nations,despised among men.The terror you causeand the pride of your hearthave deceived you,O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks,O occupiers of the mountain summit.Though you elevate your nest like the eagle,even from there I will bring you down,”declares the LORD.“Edom will become an object of horror.All who pass by will be appalledand will scoff at all her wounds.As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrownalong with their neighbors,”says the LORD,“no one will dwell there;no man will abide there.Behold, one will come up like a lionfrom the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture.For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land.Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?For who is like me, and who can challenge me?What shepherd can stand against me?”
Therefore hear the plansthat the LORD has drawn up against Edomand the strategies he has devisedagainst the people of Teman:Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away;certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.At the sound of their fall the earth will quake;their cry will resound to the Red Sea.Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down,spreading its wings over Bozrah.In that day the hearts of Edom’s mighty menwill be like the heart of a woman in labor.
Concerning Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,for they have heard a bad report;they are agitated like the sea;their anxiety cannot be calmed.Damascus has become feeble;she has turned to flee.Panic has gripped her;anguish and pain have seized herlike a woman in labor.
How is the city of praise not forsaken,the town that brings me joy?For her young men will fall in the streets,and all her warriors will be silenced in that day,”declares the LORD of Hosts.“I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;it will consume the fortresses of Ben-hadad.”
Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated, this is what the LORD says:
“Rise up, advance against Kedar,and destroy the people of the east!They will take their tents and flocks,their tent curtains and all their goods.They will take their camels for themselves.They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’
Run! Escape quickly!Lie low, O residents of Hazor,”declares the LORD,“for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylonhas drawn up a plan against you;he has devised a strategy against you.
Rise up, advance against a nation at ease,one that dwells securely,”declares the LORD.“They have no gates or bars;they live alone.
Their camels will become plunder,and their large herds will be spoil.I will scatter to the wind in every directionthose who shave their temples;I will bring calamity on themfrom all sides,”declares the LORD.“Hazor will become a haunt for jackals,a desolation forever.No one will dwell there;no man will abide there.”
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD of Hosts says:
“Behold, I will shatter Elam’s bow,the mainstay of their might.I will bring the four winds against Elamfrom the four corners of the heavens,and I will scatter themto all these winds.There will not be a nationto which Elam’s exiles will not go.So I will shatter Elam before their foes,before those who seek their lives.I will bring disaster upon them,even my fierce anger,”declares the LORD.“I will send out the sword after themuntil I finish them off.I will set my throne in Elam,and destroy its king and officials,”declares the LORD.“Yet in the last days,I will restore Elam from captivity,”declares the LORD.