1 Nämä ovat Herran sanat, jotka profeetta Jeremia julisti vieraita kansoja vastaan.
2 Egyptille. Jeremian ennustus farao Nekosta, Egyptin kuninkaasta, ja hänen sotajoukostaan Juudan kuninkaan Jojakimin, Josian pojan, neljäntenä hallitusvuotena, sinä vuonna, jona Babylonian kuningas Nebukadnessar kukisti faraon sotajoukon Karkemisissa Eufratin rannalla:
3 -- Kilvet esiin, egyptiläiset, valmistautukaa taisteluun!
4 Valjastakaa hevoset, nouskaa vaunuihin! Kypärät päähän, keihäät käteen, haarniskat päälle!
5 -- Mutta mitä näenkään: Kaikki perääntyvät pelon vallassa, rohkeimmatkin miehet lyödään takaisin. He syöksyvät pakoon suin päin, kauhusta suunniltaan, sanoo Herra.
6 Nopeinkaan ei ennätä turvaan, rohkeinkaan ei pelastu. Pohjoisessa, Eufratin rannalla, he kaatuvat eivätkä nouse.
7 -- Mikä tulvii kuin Niili, pärskyy kuin kuohuvat virrat?
10 Mutta tämä on Herran Sebaotin päivä, tänään hän kostaa egyptiläisille. Hänen miekkansa ahmii kyllikseen, se juopuu vihollisen verestä. Herralla Sebaotilla on uhrijuhla pohjoisessa maassa Eufratin rannalla.
11 -- Nouse Gileadiin ja nouda balsamia, Egypti, sinä tyttö parka! Turhia ovat runsaat rohtosi, haavasi eivät parane.
12 Kansat ovat jo kuulleet nöyryytyksesi, valitushuutosi on kiirinyt kaikkialle. Soturit kaatuivat toinen toisensa päälle, yksikään heistä ei enää nouse.
13 Tämä on Herran sana, jonka profeetta Jeremia julisti silloin kun Babylonian kuningas Nebukadnessar hyökkäsi Egyptiin valloittaakseen maan:
15 Mitä näenkään: maassa lojuu jo mahtava jumalasi, se ei kestänyt -- Herra työnsi sen kumoon!
20 Egypti on uhkea hieho. Sen kimppuun lentää paarma pohjoisesta.
21 Palkkasoturit, joita se on hankkinut, ovat pulskia kuin juottovasikat, mutta hekin kääntyvät pakoon. Kaikki pakenevat pysähtymättä. Heille on tullut tuhon päivä, koittanut rangaistuksen aika.
22 Egypti sähisee kuin käärme, kun viholliset vyöryvät kohti. He käyvät sen kimppuun kirvein kuin puunhakkaajat.
23 He kaatavat koko metsän, sanoo Herra, sen läpipääsemättömän! Heitä on enemmän kuin heinäsirkkoja, lukematon joukko.
24 Onnettomasti käy Egyptin, se joutuu pohjoisen kansan käsiin.
27 -- Älä pelkää, palvelijani Jaakob, älä kauhistu, Israel! Minä pelastan sinut kaukaisesta maasta, tuon jälkeläisesi pois sieltä, missä he ovat olleet vankeina. Jaakob palaa takaisin ja elää rauhassa, huolta vailla, kun kukaan ei häntä enää uhkaa.
28 Älä pelkää, palvelijani Jaakob! Minä olen sinun kanssasi, sanoo Herra. Kansoista, joiden sekaan sinut hajotin, minä teen lopun, mutta sinua minä en tuhoa. Silti en jätä sinua rankaisematta, vaan oikeudenmukaisesti kuritan sinua.
1 Yahweh’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2 Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3 "Prepare the buckler and shield,
and draw near to battle!
4 Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen,
and stand up with your helmets.
Polish the spears,
put on the coats of mail.
5 Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed and are turned backward.
Their mighty ones are beaten down,
have fled in haste,
and don’t look back.
Terror is on every side,"
says Yahweh.
6 "Don’t let the swift flee away,
nor the mighty man escape.
In the north by the river Euphrates
they have stumbled and fallen.
7 "Who is this who rises up like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge?
8 Egypt rises up like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge.
He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth.
I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’
9 Go up, you horses!
Rage, you chariots!
Let the mighty men go out:
Cush and Put, who handle the shield;
and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
10 For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies,
a day of vengeance,
that he may avenge himself of his adversaries.
The sword will devour and be satiated,
and will drink its fill of their blood;
for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt.
You use many medicines in vain.
There is no healing for you.
12 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 both fall together."
13 The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt:
14 "Declare in Egypt,
publish in Migdol,
and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes;
say, ‘Stand up, and prepare,
for the sword has devoured around you.’
15 Why are your strong ones swept away?
They didn’t stand, because Yahweh pushed them.
16 He made many to stumble.
Yes, they fell on one another.
They said, ‘Arise! Let’s go again to our own people,
and to the land of our birth,
from the oppressing sword.’
17 They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise;
he has let the appointed time pass by.’
18 "As I live," says the King,
whose name is Yahweh of Armies,
"surely like Tabor among the mountains,
and like Carmel by the sea,
so he will come.
19 You daughter who dwells in Egypt,
furnish yourself to go into captivity;
for Memphis will become a desolation,
and will be burned up,
without inhabitant.
20 "Egypt is a very beautiful heifer;
but destruction out of the north has come.
It has come.
21 Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall,
for they also are turned back.
They have fled away together.
They didn’t stand,
for the day of their calamity has come on them,
the time of their visitation.
22 Its sound will go like the serpent,
for they will march with an army,
and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
23 They will cut down her forest," says Yahweh,
"though it can’t be searched;
because they are more than the locusts,
and are innumerable.
24 The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed;
she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north."
25 Yahweh of Armies, 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 I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old," says Yahweh.
27 "But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant.
Don’t be dismayed, Israel;
for, behold, I will save you from afar,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return,
and will be quiet and at ease.
No one will make him afraid.
28 Don’t be afraid, 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."