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24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women: Listen to the Lord’s word, all you Judeans in the land of Egypt. 25 The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: You and your wives have done exactly what you said you would do. You said, “We will definitely fulfill our promise to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” Go ahead and keep your promises! 26 But listen to the Lord’s word, all you Judeans who live in the land of Egypt. I swear by my great name, says the Lord, that no one from Judah living in Egypt will utter my name again, even in the solemn pledge: “As surely as the Lord God lives.” 27 I’m watching over them for harm and not for good. Everyone from Judah who is living in the land of Egypt will die by the sword and by famine, until all are gone. 28 Those who actually survive war and return from Egypt to the land of Judah will be very few. Then the few remaining Judeans living in Egypt will know for certain whose word is true—mine or theirs! 29 And this will be a sign for you, declares the Lord: I will punish you here so that you know my threats against you will surely be fulfilled. 30 The Lord proclaims: I will hand Pharaoh Hophra, Egypt’s king, over to his enemies who seek to kill him, just as I delivered Judah’s King Zedekiah over to his enemy King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who sought to kill him.
A final word for Baruch
45 In the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, Baruch was writing in a scroll the words that Jeremiah was dictating to him. Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch, Neriah’s son: 2 This is what the Lord the God of Israel proclaims about you, Baruch: 3 You have said, “I can’t take it anymore! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I’m worn out from groaning and can find no rest.” 4 This is what you should say to him: “The Lord proclaims: I’m breaking down everything I have built up. I’m digging up that which I have planted—the entire land. 5 You seek great things for yourself, but don’t bother. I’m bringing disaster on all humanity, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.”
ORACLES CONCERNING THE NATIONS
46 This is what the Lord told the prophet Jeremiah concerning the nations.
Prophecy against Egypt
2 About Egypt! A message for the army of Pharaoh Neco, Egypt’s king, which was defeated by Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish near the Euphrates River in the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son:
3 Grab your shields
and prepare for war!
4 Saddle the horses;
mount the stallions!
Take your positions
with helmets on!
Polish your spears;
put on your armor!
5 Why do I see them terrified,
retreating in haste?
Their soldiers are crushed,
running for cover,
and they don’t turn back.
Panic lurks at every turn,
declares the Lord.
6 The swift can’t flee;
the mighty can’t escape.
Up north by the Euphrates River,
they stagger and fall.
7 Who is this that rises like the Nile,
whose banks overflow?[a]
8 It’s Egypt that rises like the Nile,
whose banks overflow,[b]
who declares, “I will arise
and cover the earth
and destroy cities and inhabitants.”
9 Charge, you horses;
advance, you chariots!
Attack, you soldiers
with your shield in hand,
you people of Cush and Put[c]
with your bow drawn,
you archers from Lud.
10 But that day belongs to the
Lord God of heavenly forces;
it’s a day of reckoning,
settling scores with enemies.
The sword will devour
until it has had its fill of blood.
The Lord God of heavenly forces
is preparing a sacrifice in the north
by the Euphrates River.
11 Go up to Gilead and seek balm,
virgin Daughter Egypt.
You search out remedies in vain,
for your disease is incurable.
12 Nations hear of your shame;
the earth is filled with your sobs.
Soldier stumbles over soldier;
together they go down.
13 This is the word that the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the military offensive of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar against the land of Egypt:
14 Tell Egypt, warn Migdol,
alert Memphis and Tahpanhes!
Say: “Brace yourselves for what’s coming.
War is breaking out from every side!”
15 Why have your mighty fallen?
Why haven’t they stood their ground?
Because the Lord has struck them down.
16 He’s tripped them up;
they fall over each other and say,
“Let’s get out of here
and go home to our people,
where we were born,
far away from the oppressor’s sword.”[d]
17 There they call Pharaoh, Egypt’s king,
Loudmouth—Nothing But Hot Air!
18 As I live, declares the king,
whose name is the Lord of heavenly forces,
one is coming
just as surely as Tabor is in the mountains
and Carmel is by the sea.[e]
19 Get what you need for deportation,
you inhabitants of Egypt.[f]
Memphis will be reduced to a wasteland,
a ruin with no one left.
20 Egypt is a beautiful, yes, beautiful heifer,
but a horsefly from the north
is coming to bite her.[g]
21 Even her mercenaries
are like well-fed calves;
they too will retreat and run for cover;
they won’t survive.
The day of disaster has come to haunt them,
the time of their punishment.
22 Like the sound of a snake hissing
as it slithers away
is Egypt[h] as armies approach in force;
they come against her with axes,
like woodcutters.
23 They destroy her dense forest,
though it is vast,
because they outnumber locusts
and can’t be counted,
declares the Lord.
24 Daughter Egypt will be humiliated,
handed over to people from the north.
25 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I’m going to punish Amon of Thebes, Egypt and its gods and kings, as well as Pharaoh and all who rely on him. 26 I will hand them over to those who seek to kill them, namely Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his servants. But afterward Egypt will dwell like it did a long time ago, declares the Lord.
27 But don’t be afraid, my servant Judah;
don’t lose heart, Israel.
I will deliver you from a faraway place
and your children from the land of their exile.
My people Jacob will again be safe and sound,
with no one harassing them.
28 So don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
declares the Lord.
I’m with you;
I will put an end to all the nations
where I have scattered you.
But I won’t put an end to you.
I won’t let you avoid punishment;
I will discipline you as you deserve.
Prophecy against Philistia
47 The Lord’s word to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.
2 The Lord proclaims:
Waters are rising from the north
and turning into a raging flood.
They will engulf the land and everything in it,
the towns and those living in them.
The people cry out;
all who live there scream.
3 At the pounding of the stallions’ hooves,
at the deafening roar of the chariots’ wheels,
parents abandon children,
so paralyzed are they with fear.
4 Because the time is coming
for the Philistines’ destruction,
for cutting off from Tyre and Sidon
anyone who might try to save Gaza,[i]
because the Lord will destroy the Philistines,
the few left from the island of Caphtor.
5 Mourning[j] will come upon Gaza;
silence will cover Ashkelon,
the few left in their valley.
How long will you gash yourselves in grief?[k]
6 You sword of the Lord,
how long until you are silent?
Return to your sheath;
rest and be still!
7 How can you be silent
when the Lord has directed you[l]
to attack Ashkelon and the coast line?
Avoid conflict with opponents
22 Run away from adolescent cravings. Instead, pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace together with those who confess the Lord with a clean heart. 23 Avoid foolish and thoughtless discussions, since you know that they produce conflicts. 24 God’s slave shouldn’t be argumentative but should be kind toward all people, able to teach, patient, 25 and should correct opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will change their mind and give them a knowledge of the truth. 26 They may come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap that holds them captive to do his will.
Avoid people like this
3 Understand that the last days will be dangerous times. 2 People will be selfish and love money. They will be the kind of people who brag and who are proud. They will slander others, and they will be disobedient to their parents. They will be ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, contrary, and critical. They will be without self-control and brutal, and they won’t love what is good. 4 They will be people who are disloyal, reckless, and conceited. They will love pleasure instead of loving God. 5 They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power. Avoid people like this. 6 Some will slither into households and control immature women who are burdened with sins and driven by all kinds of desires. 7 These women are always learning, but they can never arrive at an understanding of the truth. 8 These people oppose the truth in the same way that Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. Their minds are corrupt and their faith is counterfeit. 9 But they won’t get very far. Their foolishness will become obvious to everyone like those others.
Take Paul as your model
10 But you have paid attention to my teaching, conduct, purpose, faithfulness, patience, love, and endurance. 11 You have seen me experience physical abuse and ordeals in places such as Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I put up with all sorts of abuse, and the Lord rescued me from it all! 12 In fact, anyone who wants to live a holy life in Christ Jesus will be harassed. 13 But evil people and swindlers will grow even worse, as they deceive others while being deceived themselves.
14 But you must continue with the things you have learned and found convincing. You know who taught you. 15 Since childhood you have known the holy scriptures that help you to be wise in a way that leads to salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. 16 Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, 17 so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.
Psalm 94
94 Lord, avenging God—
avenging God, show yourself!
2 Rise up, judge of the earth!
Pay back the arrogant exactly what they deserve!
3 How long will the wicked—oh, Lord!—
how long will the wicked win?
4 They spew arrogant words;
all the evildoers are bragging.
5 They crush your own people, Lord!
They abuse your very own possession.
6 They kill widows and immigrants;
they murder orphans,
7 saying all the while,
“The Lord can’t see it;
Jacob’s God doesn’t know
what’s going on!”
8 You ignorant people better learn quickly.
You fools—when will you get some sense?
9 The one who made the ear,
can’t he hear?
The one who formed the eye,
can’t he see?
10 The one who disciplines nations,
can’t he punish?
The one who teaches humans,
doesn’t he know?[a]
11 The Lord does indeed know human thoughts,
knows that they are nothing but a puff of air.
12 The people you discipline, Lord, are truly happy—
the ones you teach from your Instruction—
13 giving them relief from troubling times
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 The Lord will not reject his people;
he will not abandon his very own possession.
15 No, but justice will once again meet up with righteousness,
and all whose heart is right will follow after.
16 Who will stand up for me against the wicked?
Who will help me against evildoers?
17 If the Lord hadn’t helped me,
I[b] would live instantly in total silence.
18 Whenever I feel my foot slipping,
your faithful love steadies me, Lord.
19 When my anxieties multiply,
your comforting calms me down.
20 Can a wicked ruler be your ally;
one who wreaks havoc by means of the law?
21 The wicked gang up against the lives of the righteous.
They condemn innocent blood.
22 But the Lord is my fortress;
my God is my rock of refuge.
23 He will repay them for their wickedness,
completely destroy them because of their evil.
Yes, the Lord our God will completely destroy them.
6 Sending messages with a fool
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking down violence.
7 As legs dangle from a disabled person,
so does a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Like tying a stone in a sling,
so is giving respect to a fool.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible