Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand up with your helmets. Polish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
Parallel translations
- KJV Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
- BSB Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears; put on armor!
- NKJV Harness the horses, And mount up, you horsemen! Stand forth with your helmets, Polish the spears, Put on the armor!
- NASB “Harness the horses, And mount the steeds, Take your stand with helmets on! Polish the spears, Put on the coats of armor!
- NLT Harness the horses, and mount the stallions. Take your positions. Put on your helmets. Sharpen your spears, and prepare your armor.
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
The poem continues mustering horses, horsemen, helmets, polished spears, and armor for war. Egypt readies its full strength for the fight.
Overview
The detailed call to harness horses and don armor depicts Egypt's confident, well-equipped army preparing for combat. The vivid commands build tension before the sudden reversal that follows. The futility of this elaborate readiness against God's purpose teaches that human strength, however impressive, cannot secure victory apart from the Lord, whose salvation comes through Christ rather than chariots.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ezek 21:9–11“Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Yahweh says: “A sword! A sword! It is sharpened, and also polished.
- Jer 51:3Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, also against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. Don’t spare her young men! Utterly destroy all her army!
- Neh 4:16From that time forth, half of my servants did the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.
- 2 Chr 26:14Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the army, shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.
- 1 Sam 17:38Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of brass on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail.
- 1 Sam 17:5He had a helmet of brass on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
- Ezek 21:28“You, son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach: “A sword! A sword is drawn! It is polished for the slaughter, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;
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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 46:4 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.