Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come. It has come.
- BSB Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.
- NKJV “Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from the north.
- NASB “Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!
- NLT Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Egypt is likened to a beautiful heifer, but destruction comes upon her from the north. Her beauty and strength cannot stop Babylon's invasion.
Overview
The image of a lovely heifer, perhaps echoing Egypt's worship of cattle deities, contrasts with the destroying force advancing from the north, namely Babylon. The repeated 'It has come' stresses the certainty and imminence of judgment. This picture of beauty undone by judgment reminds us that outward glory offers no protection from God's hand, and that lasting security is found only in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jer 47:2Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
- Hos 10:11And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
- Jer 46:6Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
- Jer 1:14Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
- Jer 50:11Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
- Jer 46:24The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
- Jer 25:9Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Jer 46:10For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 46:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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