The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations.
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The Lord spoke to me about the nations,
2 Of Egypt: about the army of Pharaoh-neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, overcame in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
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beginning with Egypt. This is what he said about the army of King Neco of Egypt, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia defeated at Carchemish near the Euphrates River in the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah:
3 Get out the breastplate and body-cover, and come together to the fight.
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"The Egyptian officers shout, "Get your shields ready and march into battle!
4 Make the horses ready, and get up, you horsemen, and take your places with your head-dresses; make the spears sharp and put on the breastplates.
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Harness your horses and mount them! Fall in line and put on your helmets! Sharpen your spears! Put on your armor!'
5 What have I seen? they are overcome with fear and turned back; their men of war are broken and have gone in flight, not looking back: fear is on every side, says the Lord.
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"But what do I see?" asks the Lord. "They are turning back in terror. Their soldiers are beaten back; overcome with fear, they run as fast as they can and do not look back.
6 Let not the quick-footed go in flight, or the man of war get away; on the north, by the river Euphrates, they are slipping and falling.
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Those who run fast cannot get away; the soldiers cannot escape. In the north, by the Euphrates, they stumble and fall.
7 Who is this coming up like the Nile, whose waters are lifting their heads like the rivers?
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Who is this that rises like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks?
8 Egypt is coming up like the Nile, and his waters are lifting their heads like the rivers, and he says, I will go up, covering the earth; I will send destruction on the town and its people.
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It is Egypt, rising like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks. Egypt said, "I will rise and cover the world; I will destroy cities and the people who live there.
9 Go up, you horses; go rushing on, you carriages of war; go out, you men of war: Cush and Put, gripping the body-cover, and the Ludim, with bent bows.
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Command the horses to go and the chariots to roll! Send out the soldiers: men from Ethiopia and Libya, carrying shields, and skilled archers from Lydia.' "
10 But that day is the day of the Lord, the Lord of armies, a day of punishment when he will take payment from his haters: and the sword will have all its desire, drinking their blood in full measure: for there is an offering to the Lord, the Lord of armies, in the north country by the river Euphrates.
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This is the day of the Sovereign Lord Almighty: today he will take revenge; today he will punish his enemies. His sword will eat them until it is full, and drink their blood until it is satisfied. Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims in the north, by the Euphrates.
11 Go up to Gilead and take sweet oil, O virgin daughter of Egypt: there is no help in all your medical arts; nothing will make you well.
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People of Egypt, go to Gilead and look for medicine! All your medicine has proved useless; nothing can heal you.
12 Your shame has come to the ears of the nations, and the earth is full of your cry: for the strong man is falling against the strong, they have come down together.
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Nations have heard of your shame; everyone has heard you cry. One soldier trips over another, and both of them fall to the ground.
13 The word which the Lord said to Jeremiah the prophet, of how Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, would come and make war on the land of Egypt.
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When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia came to attack Egypt, the Lord spoke to me. He said,
14 Give the news in Migdol, make it public in Noph: say, Take up your positions and make yourselves ready; for on every side of you the sword has made destruction.
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"Proclaim it in the towns of Egypt, in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes: "Get ready to defend yourselves; all you have will be destroyed in war!
15 Why has Apis, your strong one, gone in flight? he was not able to keep his place, because the Lord was forcing him down with strength.
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Why has your mighty god Apis fallen? The Lord has struck him down!'
16 ... are stopped in their going, they are falling; and they say one to another, Let us get up and go back to our people, to the land of our birth, away from the cruel sword.
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Your soldiers have stumbled and fallen; each one says to the other, "Hurry! Let's go home to our people and escape the enemy's sword!'
17 Give a name to Pharaoh, king of Egypt: A noise who has let the time go by.
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"Give the king of Egypt a new name - "Noisy Braggart Who Missed His Chance.'
18 By my life, says the King, whose name is the Lord of armies, truly, like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea, so will he come.
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I, the Lord Almighty, am king. I am the living God. As Mount Tabor towers above the mountains and Mount Carmel stands high above the sea, so will be the strength of the one who attacks you.
19 O daughter living in Egypt, make ready the vessels of a prisoner: for Noph will become a waste, it will be burned up and become unpeopled.
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Get ready to be taken prisoner, you people of Egypt! Memphis will be made a desert, a ruin where no one lives.
20 Egypt is a fair young cow; but a biting insect has come on her out of the north.
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Egypt is like a splendid cow, attacked by a stinging fly from the north.
21 And those who were her fighters for payment are like fat oxen; for they are turned back, they have gone in flight together, they do not keep their place: for the day of their fate has come on them, the time of their punishment.
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Even her hired soldiers are helpless as calves. They did not stand and fight; all of them turned and ran. The day of their doom had arrived, the time of their destruction.
22 She makes a sound like the hiss of a snake when they come on with strength; they go against her with axes, like wood-cutters.
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Egypt runs away, hissing like a snake, as the enemy's army approaches. They attack her with axes, like people cutting down trees
23 They will be cutting down her woods, for they may not be searched out; because they are like locusts, more than may be numbered.
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and destroying a thick forest. Their soldiers are too many to count; they outnumber the locusts.
24 The daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be given up into the hands of the people of the north.
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The people of Egypt are put to shame; they are conquered by the people of the north. I, the Lord, have spoken."
25 The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, I will send punishment on Amon of No and on Pharaoh and on those who put their faith in him;
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The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, "I am going to punish Amon, the god of Thebes, together with Egypt and its gods and kings. I am going to take the king of Egypt and all who put their trust in him,
26 And I will give them up into the hands of those who will take their lives, and into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hands of his servants: and later, it will be peopled as in the past, says the Lord.
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and hand them over to those who want to kill them, to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army. But later on, people will live in Egypt again, as they did in times past. I, the Lord, have spoken.
27 But have no fear, O Jacob, my servant, and do not be troubled, O Israel: for see, I will make you come back from far away, and your seed from the land where they are prisoners; and Jacob will come back, and will be quiet and in peace, and no one will give him cause for fear.
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"My people, do not be afraid, people of Israel, do not be terrified. I will rescue you from that faraway land, from the land where you are prisoners. You will come back home and live in peace; you will be secure, and no one will make you afraid.
28 Have no fear, O Jacob, my servant, says the Lord; for I am with you: for I will put an end to all the nations where I have sent you, but I will not put an end to you completely: though with wise purpose I will put right your errors, and will not let you go quite without punishment.
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I will come to you and save you. I will destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not destroy you. I will not let you go unpunished; but when I punish you, I will be fair. I, the Lord, have spoken."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.