Jeremiah 46–47; Hebrews 6

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Jeremiah 46–47

Judgment on Egypt

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet cconcerning the nations.

About Egypt. dConcerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in ethe fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

fPrepare buckler and shield,

and advance for battle!

gHarness the horses;

mount, O horsemen!

Take your stations with your helmets,

fpolish your spears,

put on your armor!

Why have I seen it?

They are dismayed

and have turned backward.

Their hwarriors are beaten down

and have fled in haste;

ithey look not back

jterror on every side!

declares the Lord.

The swift cannot flee away,

nor the warrior escape;

din the north by the river Euphrates

kthey have stumbled and fallen.

Who is this, lrising like the Nile,

like rivers mwhose waters surge?

Egypt rises like the Nile,

like rivers mwhose waters surge.

He said, I will rise, I will cover the earth,

I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.

nAdvance, O horses,

and rage, O chariots!

Let the warriors go out:

men of Cush and oPut who handle the shield,

pmen of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.

10  qThat day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,

ra day of vengeance,

sto avenge himself on his foes.

tThe sword shall devour and be sated

and drink its fill of their blood.

For the Lord God of hosts holds ua sacrifice

vin the north country wby the river Euphrates.

11  xGo up to Gilead, and take xbalm,

O virgin daughter of Egypt!

In vain you have used many medicines;

ythere is no healing for you.

12  The nations have heard of your shame,

and the earth is full of your cry;

zfor warrior has stumbled against warrior;

they have both fallen together.

13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

14  Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in bMigdol;

proclaim in bMemphis and bTahpanhes;

say, cStand ready and be prepared,

for dthe sword shall devour around you.

15  Why are your mighty ones face down?

They do not stand1

because the Lord thrust them down.

16  He made many stumble, fand they fell,

and they said one to another,

Arise, and let us go back to our own people

and to the land of our birth,

gbecause of the sword of the oppressor.

17  Call the name of hPharaoh, king of Egypt,

Noisy one who lets the hour go by.

18  iAs I live, declares the King,

jwhose name is the Lord of hosts,

like kTabor among the mountains

and like lCarmel by the sea, shall one come.

19  mPrepare yourselves baggage for exile,

O ninhabitants of Egypt!

For oMemphis shall become a waste,

a ruin, pwithout inhabitant.

20  A beautiful qheifer is Egypt,

but a biting fly rfrom the north has come upon her.

21  Even her hired soldiers in her midst

are like sfattened calves;

yes, they have turned and fled together;

they did not stand,

for the day of their calamity has come upon them,

tthe time of their punishment.

22  She makes ua sound like a serpent gliding away;

for her enemies march in force

and come against her with axes

vlike those who fell trees.

23  vThey shall cut down her forest,

declares the Lord,

though it is impenetrable,

because wthey are more numerous than locusts;

they are without number.

24  The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;

she shall be delivered into the hand of ra people from the north.

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: Behold, I am bringing punishment upon xAmon of yThebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt zand her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 aI will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. bAfterward Egypt shall be inhabited cas in the days of old, declares the Lord.

27  dBut fear not, O Jacob my servant,

nor be dismayed, O Israel,

for behold, I will save you from far away,

and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

and none shall make him afraid.

28  dFear not, O Jacob my servant,

declares the Lord,

for I am with you.

I will make a full end of all the nations

to which I have driven you,

but of you I will not make a full end.

eI will discipline you in just measure,

and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

Judgment on the Philistines

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet fconcerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down gGaza.

Thus says the Lord:

hBehold, waters are rising iout of the north,

hand shall become an overflowing torrent;

they shall overflow jthe land and all that fills it,

the city and those who dwell in it.

Men shall cry out,

and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.

At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,

lat the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,

the fathers mlook not back to their children,

so feeble are their hands,

because of the day that is coming to destroy

all fthe Philistines,

to cut off from nTyre and Sidon

every helper that remains.

For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,

othe remnant of the coastland of pCaphtor.

qBaldness has come upon Gaza;

rAshkelon has perished.

O remnant of their valley,

show long will you gash yourselves?

tAh, sword of the Lord!

How long till you are quiet?

Put yourself into your scabbard;

rest and be still!

How can it2 be quiet

uwhen the Lord has given it a charge?

Against vAshkelon and against the seashore

whe has appointed it.


Hebrews 6

Therefore ilet us leave jthe elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance kfrom dead works and of faith toward God, and of linstruction about washings,1 mthe laying on of hands, nthe resurrection of the dead, and oeternal judgment. And this we will do pif God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those qwho have once been enlightened, who have tasted rthe heavenly gift, and shave shared in the Holy Spirit, and thave tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and uthen have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since vthey are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For wland that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But xif it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, yand its end is to be burned.

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better thingsthings that belong to salvation. 10 For zGod is not unjust so as to overlook ayour work and the love that you have shown for his name in bserving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance cof hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but dimitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, ehe swore by himself, 14 saying, fSurely I will bless you and multiply you. 15 And thus Abraham,2 ghaving patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes han oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to ithe heirs of the promise jthe unchangeable character of his purpose, khe guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which lit is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope mset before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into nthe inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone oas a forerunner on our behalf, phaving become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.