Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
Parallel translations
- WEB Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
- BSB Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots! Let the warriors come forth—Cush and Put carrying their shields, men of Lydia drawing the bow.
- NKJV Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! And let the mighty men come forth: The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
- NASB Go up, you horses, and drive wildly, you chariots, So that the warriors may march forward: Cush and Put, who handle the shield, And the Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.
- NLT Charge, you horses and chariots; attack, you mighty warriors of Egypt! Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia who are skilled with the shield and bow!
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 ironically urges Egypt's horses, chariots, and allied troops from Cush, Put, and Lud to advance. The mustering of mercenaries only hastens their shared defeat.
Overview
Egypt's army, reinforced by African and other allied soldiers, is summoned to battle in a tone of mocking irony. The named nations underscore the breadth of forces that will nonetheless fail. This gathering of multinational might against God's decree shows that no coalition of nations can withstand the Lord, whose purposes prevail and whose Son is given the nations as His heritage.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 66:19And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
- Ezek 27:10They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.
- Nah 3:9Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
- Nah 2:3–4The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
- Acts 2:10Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
- 1 Cor 1:8Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Gen 10:6And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
- Jer 47:3At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
- Gen 10:13And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
- Jer 30:5For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
- 1 Chr 1:11And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
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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 46:9 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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