Jeremiah 46

• 1. The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the LORD concerning foreign nations.
• 2. This message concerning Egypt was given in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, on the occasion of the battle of Carchemish when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, and his army were defeated beside the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
• 3. "Buckle on your armor and advance into battle!
• 4. Harness the horses, and prepare to mount them. Put on your helmets, sharpen your spears, and prepare your armor.
• 5. But look! The Egyptian army flees in terror. The bravest of its fighting men run without a backward glance. They are terrorized at every turn, says the LORD.
• 6. The swiftest cannot flee; the mightiest warriors cannot escape. By the Euphrates River to the north they stumble and fall.
• 7. "Who is this, rising like the Nile River at floodtime, overflowing all the land?
• 8. It is the Egyptian army, boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood, destroying every foe.
• 9. Then come, you horses and chariots and mighty warriors of Egypt! Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia who are skilled with the shield and bow!
• 10. For this is the day of the Lord, the LORD Almighty, a day of vengeance on his enemies. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, yes, drunk with your blood! The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will receive a sacrifice today in the north country beside the Euphrates River.
• 11. Go up to Gilead to get ointment, O virgin daughter of Egypt! But your many medicines will bring you no healing.
• 12. The nations have heard of your shame. The earth is filled with your cries of despair. Your mightiest warriors will stumble across each other and fall together."
• 13. Then the LORD gave the prophet Jeremiah this message about King Nebuchadnezzar's plans to attack Egypt.
• 14. "Shout it out in Egypt! Publish it in the cities of Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes! Mobilize for battle, for the sword of destruction will devour everyone around you.
• 15. Why have your warriors fled in terror? They cannot stand because the LORD has driven them away.
• 16. They stumble and fall over each other and say among themselves, `Come, let's go back to our homeland where we were born. Let's get away from the sword of the enemy!'
• 17. There they will say, `Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity!'
• 18. "As surely as I live," says the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty, "one is coming against Egypt who is as tall as Mount Tabor or Mount Carmel by the sea!
• 19. Pack up! Get ready to leave for exile, you citizens of Egypt! The city of Memphis will be destroyed, without a single person living there.
• 20. Egypt is as sleek as a young cow, but a gadfly from the north is on its way!
• 21. Egypt's famed mercenaries have become like fattened calves. They turn and run, for it is a day of great disaster for Egypt, a time of great punishment.
• 22. Silent as a serpent gliding away, Egypt flees. The invading army marches in; they come against her with axes like woodsmen.
• 23. They will cut down her people like trees," says the LORD, "for they are more numerous than grasshoppers.
• 24. Egypt will be humiliated; she will be handed over to men from the north."
• 25. The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and all the other gods of Egypt. I will punish its rulers and Pharaoh, too, and all who trust in him.
• 26. I will hand them over to those who want them killed--to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. But afterward the land will recover from the ravages of war. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 27. "But do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel. For I will bring you home again from distant lands, and your children will return from their exile. Israel will return and will have peace and quiet, and nothing will make them afraid.
• 28. Fear not, Jacob, my servant," says the LORD, "for I am with you. I will destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, but I will not destroy you. But I must discipline you; I cannot let you go unpunished."

Jeremiah 47

• 1. This is the LORD's message to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines of Gaza, before it was captured by the Egyptian army.
• 2. This is what the LORD says: "A flood is coming from the north to overflow the land. It will destroy the land and everything in it--cities and people alike. People will scream in terror, and everyone in the land will weep.
• 3. Hear the clatter of hooves and the rumble of wheels as the chariots rush by. Terrified fathers run madly, without a backward glance at their helpless children.
• 4. "The time has come for the Philistines to be destroyed, along with their allies from Tyre and Sidon. Yes, the LORD is destroying the Philistines, those colonists from Crete.
• 5. The city of Gaza will be demolished; Ashkelon will lie in ruins. You remnant of the Mediterranean plain, how long will you lament and mourn?
• 6. "Now, O sword of the LORD, when will you be at rest again? Go back into your sheath; rest and be still!
• 7. But how can it be still when the LORD has sent it on an errand? For the city of Ashkelon and the people living along the sea must be destroyed."

Jeremiah 48

• 1. This message was given concerning Moab. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Destruction is certain for the city of Nebo; it will soon lie in ruins. The city of Kiriathaim will be humiliated and captured; the fortress will be humiliated and broken down.
• 2. No one will ever brag about Moab again, for there is a plot against her life. In Heshbon plans have been completed to destroy her. `Come,' they say, `we will cut her off from being a nation.' The city of Madmen, too, will be silenced; the sword will follow you there.
• 3. And then the roar of battle will surge against Horonaim,
• 4. for all Moab is being destroyed. Her little ones will cry out.
• 5. Her refugees will climb the hills of Luhith, weeping bitterly, while cries of terror rise from Horonaim below.
• 6. Flee for your lives! Hide in the wilderness!
• 7. Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill, you will be taken captive. Your god Chemosh, with his priests and princes, will be exiled to distant lands!
• 8. "All the towns will be destroyed, both on the plateaus and in the valleys, for the LORD has spoken.
• 9. Oh, that Moab had wings so she could fly away, for her cities will be left empty, with no one living in them.
• 10. Cursed be those who refuse to do the work the LORD has given them, who hold back their swords from shedding blood!
• 11. "From her earliest history, Moab has lived in peace. She is like wine that has been allowed to settle. She has not been poured from flask to flask, and she is now fragrant and smooth.
• 12. But the time is coming soon," says the LORD, "when I will send troublemakers to pour her from her jar. They will pour her out, then shatter the jar!
• 13. At last Moab will be ashamed of her idol Chemosh, as Israel was ashamed of her gold calf at Bethel.
• 14. "You used to boast, `We are heroes, mighty men of war.'
• 15. But now Moab and her towns will be destroyed. Her most promising youth are doomed to slaughter," says the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
• 16. "Calamity is coming fast to Moab; it threatens ominously.
• 17. "You friends of Moab, weep for her and cry! See how the strong scepter is broken, how the beautiful staff is shattered!
• 18. Come down from your glory and sit in the dust, you people of Dibon, for those who destroy Moab will shatter Dibon, too. They will tear down all your towers.
• 19. The people of Aroer stand anxiously beside the road to watch. They shout to those who flee from Moab, `What has happened there?'
• 20. "And the reply comes back, `Moab lies in ruins; weep and wail! Tell it by the banks of the Arnon River: Moab has been destroyed!'
• 21. All the cities of the plateau lie in ruins, too. Judgment has been poured out on them all--on Holon and Jahaz and Mephaath,
• 22. and on Dibon and Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,
• 23. and on Kiriathaim and Beth-gamul and Beth-meon,
• 24. and on Kerioth and Bozrah--all the cities of Moab, far and near.
• 25. "The strength of Moab has ended. Her horns have been cut off, and her arms have been broken," says the LORD.
• 26. "Let her stagger and fall like a drunkard, for she has rebelled against the LORD. Moab will wallow in her own vomit, ridiculed by all.
• 27. Did you not make Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught in the company of thieves that you should despise her as you do?
• 28. "You people of Moab, flee from your cities and towns! Live in the caves like doves that nest in the clefts of the rocks.
• 29. We have heard of the pride of Moab, for it is very great. We know of her loftiness, her arrogance, and her haughty heart.
• 30. I know about her insolence," says the LORD, "but her boasts are false; they accomplish nothing.
• 31. Yes, I wail for Moab; my heart is broken for the men of Kir-hareseth.
• 32. "You people of Sibmah, rich in vineyards, I will weep for you even more than I did for Jazer. Your spreading vines once reached as far as the Dead Sea, but the destroyer has stripped you bare! He has harvested your grapes and summer fruits.
• 33. Joy and gladness are gone from fruitful Moab. The presses yield no wine. No one treads the grapes with shouts of joy. There is shouting, yes, but not of joy.
• 34. Instead, their awful cries of terror can be heard from Heshbon clear across to Elealeh and Jahaz; from Zoar all the way to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up now.
• 35. "I will put an end to Moab," says the LORD, "for they offer sacrifices at the pagan shrines and burn incense to their false gods.
• 36. My heart moans like a flute for Moab and Kir-hareseth, for all their wealth has disappeared.
• 37. They shave their heads and beards in mourning. They slash their hands and put on clothes made of sackcloth.
• 38. Crying and sorrow will be in every Moabite home and on every street. For I have smashed Moab like an old, unwanted bottle.
• 39. How it is broken! Hear the wailing! See the shame of Moab! She has become an object of ridicule, an example of ruin to all her neighbors.
• 40. "An eagle swoops down on the land of Moab," says the LORD.
• 41. "Her cities will fall; her strongholds will be seized. Even the mightiest warriors will be as frightened as a woman about to give birth.
• 42. Moab will no longer be a nation, for she has boasted against the LORD.
• 43. "Terror and traps and snares will be your lot, O Moab," says the LORD.
• 44. "Those who flee in terror will fall into a trap, and those who escape the trap will step into a snare. I will see to it that you do not get away, for the time of your judgment has come," says the LORD.
• 45. "The people flee as far as Heshbon but are unable to go on. For a fire comes from Heshbon, King Sihon's ancestral home, to devour the entire land with all its rebellious people.
• 46. "O Moab, your destruction is sure! The people of the god Chemosh are destroyed! Your sons and daughters have been taken away as captives.
• 47. But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Moab," says the LORD. This is the end of Jeremiah's prophecy concerning Moab.

New Living Translation: 274 of 324 days.