Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land.
And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
About Egypt. 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 the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
Harness the horses; mount, O horsemen! Take your stations with your helmets, polish your spears, put on your armor!
Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and have turned backward. Their warriors are beaten down and have fled in haste; they look not back— terror on every side!
“The swift cannot flee away, nor the warrior escape; in the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen.
“Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge?
Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
Advance, O horses, and rage, O chariots! Let the warriors go out: men of Cush and Put who handle the shield, men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for warrior has stumbled against warrior; they have both fallen together.”
The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes; say, ‘Stand ready and be prepared, for the sword shall devour around you.’
Why are your mighty ones face down? They do not stand because the Lord thrust them down.
He made many stumble, 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, because of the sword of the oppressor.’
Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’
“As I live, declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts, like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
“A beautiful heifer is Egypt, but a biting fly from the north has come upon her.
Even her hired soldiers in her midst are like fattened calves; yes, they have turned and fled together; they did not stand, for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their punishment.
They shall cut down her forest,
The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.”
The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him.
I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the Lord.
“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.
Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.
“Thus says the Lord: Behold, waters are rising out of the north, and shall become an overflowing torrent; they shall overflow 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.
At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels, the fathers look not back to their children, so feeble are their hands,
because of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remains. For the Lord is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.
Ah, sword of the Lord! How long till you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard; rest and be still!
How can it be quiet when the Lord has given it a charge? Against Ashkelon and against the seashore he has appointed it.”
Concerning Moab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste! Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; the fortress is put to shame and broken down;
the renown of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they planned disaster against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’ You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue you.
For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distressed cry of destruction.
Flee! Save yourselves! You will be like a juniper in the desert!
The destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord has spoken.
“Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.
“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 jars in pieces.
Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction hastens swiftly.
Grieve for him, all you who are around him, and all who know his name; say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken, the glorious staff.’
“Come down from your glory, and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitant of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; he has destroyed your strongholds.
Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer! Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, ‘What has happened?’
Moab is put to shame, for it is broken; wail and cry! Tell it beside the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
“Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath,
and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the Lord.
“Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision.
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