Jeremiah 26
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word has been from YHWH, saying,
In the beginning of the reign of king Sedekias, there came this word concerning Aelam.
2 “Thus said YHWH: Stand in the court of the house of YHWH, and you have spoken to all [those of] the cities of Judah, who are coming to bow themselves in the house of YHWH, all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them—you do not diminish 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 listen, and each turns back from his evil way; then I have relented concerning the evil that I am thinking of doing to them, because of the evil of their doings.
Take up arms and spears, and draw near to battle;
4 And you have said to them, Thus said YHWH: If you do not listen to Me, to walk in My law that I 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 to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I am sending to you, indeed, rising early and sending, and you have not listened,
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 have given up this house as Shiloh, and this city I give up for a reviling to all 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 And the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, hear Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of YHWH,
Who is this [that] shall come up as a river, and as rivers roll [their] waves?
8 and it comes to pass, at the completion of Jeremiah’s speaking all that YHWH has commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people catch him, saying, “You 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 Why have you prophesied in the Name of YHWH, saying, This house will be as Shiloh, and this city is desolated, without inhabitant?” And all the people are assembled to Jeremiah in the house of YHWH.
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 And the heads of Judah hear these things, and they go up from the house of the king [to] the house of YHWH, and sit in the opening of the New Gate of YHWH.
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 And the priests and the prophets speak to the heads, and to all the people, saying, “Judgment of death [is] for this man, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your 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 And Jeremiah speaks to all the heads, and to all the people, saying, “YHWH sent me to prophesy concerning this house, and concerning 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 And now, amend your ways, and your doings, and listen to the voice of your God YHWH, and YHWH relents concerning the evil that He has spoken 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 And I, behold, I [am] in your hand, do to me as is good and as is right in your eyes;
Proclaim [it] at Magdol, and declare [it] at Memphis: say you, Stand up, and prepare; for the sword has devoured your yew tree.
15 only, certainly know that if you are putting me to death, you are surely putting innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on its inhabitants; for YHWH has truly sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”
Therefore has Apis fled from you? your choice calf has not remained; for the Lord has utterly weakened him.
16 And the heads and all the people say to the priests and to the prophets, “There is not a judgment of death for this man, for he has spoken to us in the Name of our God YHWH.”
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 And men from [the] elderly of the land rise up and speak to all the assembly of the people, saying,
Call you the name of Pharao Nechao king of Egypt, Saon esbeie moed.
18 “Micah the Morashtite has been prophesying in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and he says to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Zion is a plowed field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mountain of the house is for high places of a forest.
[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 and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear YHWH? Indeed, he appeases the face of YHWH, and YHWH relents concerning the calamity that He spoke against them; and we are doing great evil against our souls.”
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 And there has also been a man prophesying in the Name of YHWH, Urijah son of Shemaiah, of Kirjath-Jearim, and he prophesies against this city, and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah,
Egypt is a fair heifer, [but] destruction from the north is come upon her.
21 and King Jehoiakim, and all his mighty ones, and all the heads, hear his words, and the king seeks to put him to death, and Urijah hears, and fears, and flees, and goes 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 And King Jehoiakim sends men to Egypt—Elnathan son of Achbor, and men with him to Egypt—
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 and they bring out Urijah from Egypt, and bring him to King Jehoiakim, and he strikes him with a sword, and casts his corpse to the graves of the sons of the 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 Only, the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan has been with Jeremiah so as not to give him up into the hand of the people to put him 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.
