Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers, boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy the cities and their people.’
Parallel translations
- WEB Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, ‘I will rise up, I will cover the earth. I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’
- KJV Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
- NKJV Egypt rises up like a flood, And its waters move like the rivers; And he says, ‘I will go up and cover the earth, I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.’
- NASB Egypt rises like the Nile, And like the rivers whose waters surge; And He has said, “I will rise and cover that land; I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.”
- NLT It is the Egyptian army, overflowing all the land, boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood, destroying cities and their people.
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 boasts it will rise like the Nile, cover the earth, and destroy cities. Its proud ambition aims at conquest and domination.
Overview
Egypt's self-confident declaration to cover the earth and destroy cities expresses its imperial pride. The flood imagery conveys overwhelming, destructive ambition. Such boasting against God's purposes invites the very downfall the oracle announces, reminding readers that the proud will be humbled and that lasting dominion belongs to Christ, whose kingdom alone fills the earth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Exod 15:9–10The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
- Isa 37:24–26Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
- Isa 10:13–16For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
- Ezek 32:2“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash about in your rivers, churning up the waters with your feet and muddying the streams.’
- Ezek 29:3Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’
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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 46:8 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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