Go up, you horses, and drive madly, you chariots, That the mighty men may march forward: Ethiopia and Put, that handle the shield, And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes; And the sword will devour and be satiated And drink its fill of their blood; For there will be a slaughter for the Lord GOD of hosts, In the land of the north by the river Euphrates.
The nations have heard of your shame, And the earth is full of your cry of distress; For one warrior has stumbled over another, And both of them have fallen down together.
This is the message which the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt:
“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol, Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.’
“Why have your mighty ones become prostrate? They do not stand because the LORD has thrust them down.
“They have repeatedly stumbled; Indeed, they have fallen one against another. Then they said, ‘Get up! And let us go back To our own people and our native land Away from the sword of the oppressor.’
“They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a big noise; He has let the appointed time pass by!’
“As I live,” declares the King Whose name is the LORD of hosts, “Surely one shall come who looms up like Tabor among the mountains, Or like Carmel by the sea.
“Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north--it is coming!
“Also her mercenaries in her midst Are like fattened calves, For even they too have turned back and have fled away together; They did not stand their ground. For the day of their calamity has come upon them, The time of their punishment.
“They have cut down her forest,” declares the LORD; “Surely it will no more be found, Even though they are now more numerous than locusts And are without number.
“The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame, Given over to the power of the people of the north.”
The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him.
I shall give them over to the power of those who are seeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his officers. Afterwards, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the LORD.
“But as for you, O Jacob My servant, do not fear, Nor be dismayed, O Israel! For, see, I am going to save you from afar, And your descendants from the land of their captivity; And Jacob will return and be undisturbed And secure, with no one making him tremble.
“O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the LORD, “For I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations Where I have driven you, Yet I will not make a full end of you; But I will correct you properly And by no means leave you unpunished.”
That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.
Thus says the LORD: “Behold, waters are going to rise from the north And become an overflowing torrent, And overflow the land and all its fullness, The city and those who live in it; And the men will cry out, And every inhabitant of the land will wail.
“Because of the noise of the galloping hoofs of his stallions, The tumult of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels, The fathers have not turned back for their children, Because of the limpness of their hands,
On account of the day that is coming To destroy all the Philistines, To cut off from Tyre and Sidon Every ally that is left; For the LORD is going to destroy the Philistines, The remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.
“Ah, sword of the LORD, How long will you not be quiet? Withdraw into your sheath; Be at rest and stay still.
“How can it be quiet, When the LORD has given it an order? Against Ashkelon and against the seacoast-- There He has assigned it.”
Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed; Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured; The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.
“There is praise for Moab no longer; In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: ‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’ You too, Madmen, will be silenced; The sword will follow after you.
“The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, ‘Devastation and great destruction!’
“For by the ascent of Luhith They will ascend with continual weeping; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the anguished cry of destruction.
“Flee, save your lives, That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
“A destroyer will come to every city, So that no city will escape; The valley also will be ruined And the plateau will be destroyed, As the LORD has said.
“Cursed be the one who does the LORD’S work negligently, And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.
Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.
And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
“Moab has been destroyed and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter,” Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
“The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has swiftly hastened.
“Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, ‘How has the mighty scepter been broken, A staff of splendor!’
“Come down from your glory And sit on the parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds.
“Stand by the road and keep watch, O inhabitant of Aroer; Ask him who flees and her who escapes And say, ‘What has happened?’
“Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That Moab has been destroyed.
“Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah and against Mephaath,
against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken,” declares the LORD.
“Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.
“Leave the cities and dwell among the crags, O inhabitants of Moab, And be like a dove that nests Beyond the mouth of the chasm.
“We have heard of the pride of Moab--he is very proud-- Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.
“I know his fury,” declares the LORD, “But it is futile; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.
“Therefore I will wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
“More than the weeping for Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your tendrils stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen.
“So gladness and joy are taken away From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses; No one will tread them with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts of joy.
From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate.
I will make an end of Moab,” declares the LORD, “the one who offers sacrifice on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.
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