Jeremiah 26
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
In the beginning of the reign of king Sedekias, there came this word concerning Aelam.
2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command thee to speak to them; diminish not 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 It may be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil, which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings.
Take up arms and spears, and draw near to battle;
4 And thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to 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 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you, both rising early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
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 will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to 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 So the priests and the 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 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt 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 hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered 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 princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house to the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entrance of the new gate of the LORD’S house.
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 the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye 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 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye 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 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent of the evil that he hath 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, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as it seemeth good and right to you.
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 ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its inhabitants: for of a truth the LORD hath 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 Then said the princes and all the people to the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath 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 Then arose certain of the elders of the land, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,
Call you the name of Pharao Nechao king of Egypt, Saon esbeie moed.
18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the 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 the LORD, and beseech the LORD, and the LORD repented of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure 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 was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied 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 when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into 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 Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into 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 brought forth Urijah from Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body 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 the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him 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.
