Jeremiah 26
1 At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the LORD:
In the beginning of the reign of king Sedekias, there came this word concerning Aelam.
2 “This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who come to worship there. Do not omit a word.
FOR EGYPT, AGAINST THE POWER OF PHARAO NECHAO KING OF EGYPT, who was by the river Euphrates in Charmis, whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Joakim king of Juda.
3 Perhaps they will listen and turn—each from his evil way of life—so that I may relent of the disaster I am planning to bring upon them because of the evil of their deeds.
Take up arms and spears, and draw near to battle;
4 And you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘If you do not listen to Me and walk in My law, which I have set before you,
and harness the horses: mount, you horsemen, and stand ready in your helmets; advance the spears, and put on your breastplates.
5 and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen,
Why do they fear, and turn back? even because their mighty men shall be slain: they have utterly fled, and being hemmed in they have not rallied, says the Lord.
6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’”
Let not the swift flee, and let not the mighty man escape to the north: the [forces] at Euphrates are become feeble, and they have fallen.
7 Now the priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD,
Who is this [that] shall come up as a river, and as rivers roll [their] waves?
8 and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die!
The waters of Egypt shall come up like a river: and he said, I will go up, and will cover the earth, and will destroy the dwellers in it.
9 How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
Mount you the horses, prepare the chariots; go forth, you warriors of the Ethiopians, and Libyans armed with shields; and mount, you Lydians, bend the bow.
10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they went up from the king’s palace to the house of the LORD and sat there at the entrance of the New Gate.
And that day [shall be] to the Lord our God a day of vengeance, to take vengeance on his enemies: and the sword of the Lord shall devour, and be glutted, and be drunken with their blood: for the Lord [has] a sacrifice from the land of the north at the river Euphrates.
11 Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man is worthy of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears!”
Go up to Galaad, and take balm for the virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain have you multiplied your medicines; there is no help in you.
12 But Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.
The nations have heard your voice, and the land has been filled with your cry: for the warriors have fainted fighting one against another, [and] both are fallen together.
13 So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you.
THE WORDS WHICH THE LORD SPOKE by Jeremias, concerning the coming of the king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt.
14 As for me, here I am in your hands; do to me what you think is good and right.
Proclaim [it] at Magdol, and declare [it] at Memphis: say you, Stand up, and prepare; for the sword has devoured your yew tree.
15 But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its residents; for truly the LORD has sent me to speak all these words in your hearing.”
Therefore has Apis fled from you? your choice calf has not remained; for the Lord has utterly weakened him.
16 Then the officials and all the people told the priests and prophets, “This man is not worthy of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God!”
And your multitude has fainted and fallen; and each one said to his neighbour, Let us arise, and return into our country to our people, from the Grecian sword.
17 Some of the elders of the land stood up and said to the whole assembly of the people,
Call you the name of Pharao Nechao king of Egypt, Saon esbeie moed.
18 “Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’
[As] I live, says the Lord God, he shall come as Itabyrion amongst the mountains, and as Carmel that is on the sea.
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did Hezekiah not fear the LORD and seek His favor, and did not the LORD relent of the disaster He had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great harm on ourselves!”
O daughter of Egypt dwelling [at home], prepare you stuff for removing: for Memphis shall be utterly desolate, and shall be called Woe, because there are no inhabitants in it.
20 Now there was another man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land the same things that Jeremiah did.
Egypt is a fair heifer, [but] destruction from the north is come upon her.
21 King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and officials heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah found out about it, he fled in fear and went to Egypt.
Also her hired [soldiers] in the midst of her are as fatted calves fed in her; for they also have turned, and fled with one accord: they stood not, for the day of destruction was come upon them, and the time of their retribution.
22 Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor along with some other men.
Their voice is as [that] of a hissing serpent, for they go upon the sand; they shall come upon Egypt with axes, as men that cut wood.
23 They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him put to the sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.
They shall cut down her forest, says the Lord, for [their number] can’t at all be conjectured, for it exceeds the locust in multitude, and they are innumerable.
24 Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
The daughter of Egypt is confounded; she is delivered into the hands of a people from the north.
Behold, I [will] avenge Ammon her son upon Pharao, and upon them that trust in him.
But fear not you, my servant Jacob, neither be you alarmed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be at ease, and sleep, and there shall be no one to trouble him.
Fear not you, my servant Jacob, says the Lord; for I am with you: she [that was] without fear and in luxury, has been delivered up: for I will make a full end of every nation amongst whom I have thrust you forth; but I will not cause you to fail: yet will I chastise you in the way of judgement, and will not hold you entirely guiltless.
