Why do you go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile River? Why do you go to Assyria to drink from the Euphrates River?

现今你为何在埃及路上要喝西曷的水呢？你为何在亚述路上要喝大河的水呢？

现今你为何在埃及路上喝西曷河的水呢？为何在亚述路上喝大河的水呢？

现今你为何在埃及路上喝西曷河的水呢？为何在亚述路上喝大河的水呢？

现在，你去埃及喝尼罗河的水有什么用呢？你去亚述喝幼发拉底河的水有什么用呢？

现在，你为什么要到埃及去，喝西曷的水呢？你为什么要到亚述去，喝幼发拉底河的水呢？

現今你為何在埃及路上要喝西曷的水呢？你為何在亞述路上要喝大河的水呢？

現今你為何在埃及路上喝西曷河的水呢？為何在亞述路上喝大河的水呢？

現今你為何在埃及路上喝西曷河的水呢？為何在亞述路上喝大河的水呢？

現在，你去埃及喝尼羅河的水有什麼用呢？你去亞述喝幼發拉底河的水有什麼用呢？

現在，你為甚麼要到埃及去，喝西曷的水呢？你為甚麼要到亞述去，喝幼發拉底河的水呢？

現在你去埃及、喝西曷的水，得了甚麼呢？你去亞述、喝大河的水，得了甚麼呢？

爾今何為在於埃及之道、以飲西曷之水、何為在於亞述之道、以飲大河之水乎、

爾今或往埃及、飲西曷之水、或往亞述、飲百辣之水、果何為哉。

爾今何為往伊及之路、欲飲西曷之水乎、爾何為往亞述之路、欲飲伯拉大河之水乎、

Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates?

And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

“ What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and your covenants with Assyria? What good to you are the streams of the Nile or the waters of the Euphrates River?

Now what will you gain by traveling along the way to Egypt to drink the water of the Nile? What will you gain by traveling along the way to Assyria to drink the water of the Euphrates?

But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt, Except to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria, Except to drink the waters of the Euphrates River?

And now why take the road to Egypt, To drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, To drink the waters of the River?

And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

Now what will you gain by traveling along the way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain by traveling along the way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

What good will it do you then to go down to Egypt to seek help from the Egyptians? What good will it do you to go over to Assyria to seek help from the Assyrians?

Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or why do you to go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

Those areas begin at the Shihor River in the eastern part of Egypt. They go to the territory of Ekron in the north. All that land is considered Canaanite even though it is controlled by five Philistine rulers. They rule over Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. The Avvites

The Lord says,“ The people of Ephraim are like a dove. They are easily tricked. They do not have any sense at all. First they call out to Egypt for help. Then they turn to Assyria.

How terrible it will be for those who go down to Egypt for help! How terrible for those who depend on horses! They trust in how many chariots they have. They trust in how strong their horsemen are. But they don’t look to the Holy One of Israel. They don’t ask the Lord for his help.

Why do you keep on changing your ways so much? Assyria did not help you. And Egypt will not help you either.

The armies of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem. They received a report that Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt to help Zedekiah. So armies of Babylon pulled back from Jerusalem.A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah.The Lord is the God of Israel. He says,“ The king of Judah has sent you to ask me for advice. Tell him,‘ Pharaoh’s army has marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land. It will return to Egypt.Then the armies of Babylon will come back here. They will attack this city. They will capture it. Then they will burn it down.’“ The Lord says,‘ Do not fool yourselves. You think,“ The Babylonians will leave us alone.” But they will not!Suppose you destroy all the armies of Babylon that are attacking you. Suppose only wounded men are left in their tents. Even then they will come out and burn down this city.’ ”

“ The people of Ephraim saw how sick they were. The people of Judah saw that they were wounded. Then Ephraim turned to Assyria for help. They sent gifts to the great King Tiglath- Pileser. But he is not able to make you well. He can’t heal your wounds.

Tiglath- Pileser came to Ahaz. But he gave Ahaz trouble instead of help. Tiglath- Pileser was king of Assyria.Ahaz took some things from the Lord’ s temple. He also took some from the royal palace and from the officials. He gave all of them to the king of Assyria. But that didn’t help Ahaz.

And that’s not all. Our eyes grew tired. We looked for help that never came. We watched from our towers. We kept looking for a nation that couldn’t save us.

But Zedekiah turned against him. He sent messengers to Egypt. They went there to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does things like that escape? Can he break the peace treaty and still escape?

Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath- Pileser. He was king of Assyria. The message of Ahaz said,“ I am your servant. You are my master. Come up and save me from the power of the kings of Aram and Israel. They are attacking me.”Ahaz took the silver and gold that were in the Lord’ s temple. He also took the silver and gold that were among the treasures in the royal palace. He sent all of it as a gift to the king of Assyria.So the king of Assyria did what Ahaz asked him to do. He attacked the city of Damascus and captured it. He sent its people away to Kir. And he put Rezin to death.

“ How terrible it will be for these stubborn children of mine!” announces the Lord.“ How terrible for those who carry out plans that did not come from me! Their agreement with Egypt did not come from my Spirit. So they pile up one sin on top of another.They go down to Egypt without asking me for advice. They look to Pharaoh to help them. They ask Egypt to keep them safe.But looking to Pharaoh will only bring them shame. Asking Egypt for help will bring them dishonor.Their officials have gone to the city of Zoan. Their messengers have arrived in Hanes.But the people of Judah will be put to shame. That’s because they are trusting in a nation that is useless to them. Egypt will not bring them any help or advantage. Instead, it will bring them shame and dishonor.”Here is a prophecy the Lord gave me about the animals in the Negev Desert. Judah’s messengers carry their riches on the backs of donkeys. They carry their treasures on the humps of camels. They travel through a land of danger and suffering. It’s a land filled with lions. Poisonous snakes are also there. The messengers travel to a nation that can’t do them any good.They travel to Egypt, whose help is totally useless. That’s why I call it Rahab the Do- Nothing.