Jeremiah 26
1 In the beginning of the reigne of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah, came this worde from the Lord, saying,
In the beginning of the reign of king Sedekias, there came this word concerning Aelam.
2 Thus saith the Lord, Sande in the court of the Lordes House, and speake vnto all the cities of Iudah, which come to worshippe in the Lords House, all the wordes that I commaund thee to speake vnto them: keepe not a worde backe,
FOR EGYPT, AGAINST THE POWER OF PHARAO NECHAO KING OF EGYPT, who was by the river Euphrates in Charmis, whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Joakim king of Juda.
3 If so be they will hearken, and turne euery man from his euill way, that I may repent me of the plague, which I haue determined to bring vpon them, because of the wickednesse of their workes.
Take up arms and spears, and draw nigh to battle;
4 And thou shalt say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord, If ye will not heare me to walke in my Lawes, which I haue set before you,
and harness the horses: mount, ye horsemen, and stand ready in your helmets; advance the spears, and put on your breast-plates.
5 And to heare ye wordes of my seruants the Prophets, whome I sent vnto you, both rising vp earely, and sending them, and will not obey them,
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, saith the Lord.
6 Then will I make this House like Shiloh, and will make this citie 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 Priestes, and the Prophets, and all the people heard Ieremiah speaking these wordes in the House of the Lord.
Who is this [that] shall come up as a river, and as rivers roll [their] waves?
8 Nowe when Ieremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speake vnto all the people, then the Priestes, and the prophets, and all the people tooke him, and saide, Thou shalt die the death.
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 prophecied in the Name of the Lord, saying, This House shall be like Shiloh, and this citie shalbe desolate without an inhabitant? and all the people were gathered against Ieremiah in the House of the Lord.
Mount ye the horses, prepare the chariots; go forth, ye warriors of the Ethiopians, and Libyans armed with shields; and mount, ye Lydians, bend the bow.
10 And when the princes of Iudah heard of these things, they came vp from the Kings house into the House of the Lord, and sate downe in the entrie of the new gate of the Lords 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 spake the Priestes, and the prophets vnto the princes, and to all the people, saying, This man is worthie to die: for he hath prophecied against this citie, as ye haue heard with your eares.
Go up to Galaad, and take balm for the virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain hast thou multiplied thy medicines; there is no help in thee.
12 Then spake Ieremiah vnto all the princes, and to al the people, saying, The Lord hath sent me to prophecie against this house and against this citie all the things that ye haue heard.
The nations have heard thy voice, and the land has been filled with thy cry: for the warriors have fainted fighting one against another, [and] both are fallen together.
13 Therefore nowe amende your wayes and your workes, and heare the voyce of the Lord your God, that the Lord may repent him of the plague, that he hath pronounced against you.
THE WORDS WHICH THE LORD SPOKE by Jeremias, concerning the coming of the king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt.
14 As for me, beholde, I am in your hands: do with me as ye thinke good and right.
Proclaim [it] at Magdol, and declare [it] at Memphis: say ye, Stand up, and prepare; for the sword has devoured thy yew-tree.
15 But knowe ye for certaine, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood vpon your selues, and vpon this citie, and vpon the inhabitants thereof: for of a trueth the Lord hath sent me vnto you, to speake all these words in your eares.
Wherefore has Apis fled from thee? thy choice calf has not remained; for the Lord has utterly weakened him.
16 Then saide the princes and all the people vnto the Priestes, and to the prophets, This man is not worthie to die: for he hath spoken vnto vs in the Name of the Lord our God.
And thy 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 rose vp certaine of the Elders of the lande, and spake to all the assemblie of the people, saying,
Call ye the name of Pharao Nechao king of Egypt, Saon esbeie moed.
18 Michah the Morashite prophecied in the dayes of Hezekiah king of Iudah, and spake to al the people of Iudah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hostes, Zion shall be plowed like a fielde, and Ierusalem shalbe an heape, and the mountaine of the House shalbe as the hie places of the forest.
[As] I live, saith the Lord God, he shall come as Itabyrion among the mountains, and as Carmel that is on the sea.
19 Did Hezekiah King of Iudah, and all Iudah put him to death? did he not feare ye Lord, and prayed before the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the plague, that he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great euill against our soules.
O daughter of Egypt dwelling [at home], prepare thee 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 prophecied in the Name of the Lord, one Vriiah the sonne of Shemaiah, of Kiriath-iarem, who prophecied against this citie, and against this lande, according to all the wordes of Ieremiah.
Egypt is a fair heifer, [but] destruction from the north is come upon her.
21 Nowe when Iehoiakim the King with all his men of power, and all the princes heard his wordes, the King sought to slay him. But when Vriiah heard it, he was afraide 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 Then Iehoiakim the King sent men into Egypt, euen Elnathan the sonne of Achbor, and certaine 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 fet Vriiah out of Egypt, and brought him vnto Iehoiakim the King, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead bodie into the graues of the children of the people.
They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, for [their number] cannot at all be conjectured, for it exceeds the locust in multitude, and they are innumerable.
24 But the hande of Ahikam the sonne of Shaphan was with Ieremiah that they shoulde not giue him into the hande 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 thou, my servant Jacob, neither be thou alarmed, Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar, and thy 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 thou, my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; for I am with thee: she [that was] without fear and in luxury, has been delivered up: for I will make a full end of every nation among whom I have thrust thee forth; but I will not cause thee to fail: yet will I chastise thee in the way of judgment, and will not hold thee entirely guiltless.
