Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 The Lord spoke to me about the nations,
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The word of Yahweh which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2 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:
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Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh-neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3 "The Egyptian officers shout, "Get your shields ready and march into battle!
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Prepare you the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
4 Harness your horses and mount them! Fall in line and put on your helmets! Sharpen your spears! Put on your armor!'
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Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
5 "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.
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Why have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled apace, and don't look back: terror is on every side, says Yahweh.
6 Those who run fast cannot get away; the soldiers cannot escape. In the north, by the Euphrates, they stumble and fall.
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Don't let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.
7 Who is this that rises like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks?
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Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
8 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.
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Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and the inhabitants of it.
9 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.' "
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Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
10 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.
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For that day is [a day] of the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11 People of Egypt, go to Gilead and look for medicine! All your medicine has proved useless; nothing can heal you.
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Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.
12 Nations have heard of your shame; everyone has heard you cry. One soldier trips over another, and both of them fall to the ground.
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The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together.
13 When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia came to attack Egypt, the Lord spoke to me. He said,
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The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.
14 "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!
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Declare you in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say you, Stand forth, and prepare you; for the sword has devoured round about you.
15 Why has your mighty god Apis fallen? The Lord has struck him down!'
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Why are your strong ones swept away? they didn't stand, because Yahweh did drive them.
16 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!'
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He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.
17 "Give the king of Egypt a new name - "Noisy Braggart Who Missed His Chance.'
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They cried there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.
18 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.
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As I live, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Hosts, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.
19 Get ready to be taken prisoner, you people of Egypt! Memphis will be made a desert, a ruin where no one lives.
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You daughter who dwell in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.
20 Egypt is like a splendid cow, attacked by a stinging fly from the north.
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Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; [but] destruction out of the north is come, it is come.
21 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.
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Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they didn't stand: for the day of their calamity is come on them, the time of their visitation.
22 Egypt runs away, hissing like a snake, as the enemy's army approaches. They attack her with axes, like people cutting down trees
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The sound of it shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
23 and destroying a thick forest. Their soldiers are too many to count; they outnumber the locusts.
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They shall cut down her forest, says Yahweh, though it can't be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.
24 The people of Egypt are put to shame; they are conquered by the people of the north. I, the Lord, have spoken."
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The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25 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,
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Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him:
26 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.
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and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, says Yahweh.
27 "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.
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But don't be afraid you, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28 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."
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Don't be afraid you, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; for I am with you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.