Jeremiah 46:11

Easy-to-Read Version

"Egypt, go to Gilead and get some medicine. You will make up many medicines, but they will not help. You will not be healed.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Go up to Gilead and get balm,Virgin Daughter Egypt!You have multiplied remedies in vain;there is no healing for you.

Hebrew Names Version
Go up into Gil`ad, and take balm, virgin daughter of Mitzrayim: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.

King James Version
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.

English Standard Version
Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you.

New American Standard Bible
Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, Virgin daughter of Egypt! You have used many remedies in vain; There is no healing for you.

New Century Version
"Go up to Gilead and get some balm, people of Egypt! You have prepared many medicines, but they will not work; you will not be healed.

Amplified Bible
Go up to Gilead and obtain [healing] balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you use many medicines; For you there is no healing or remedy.

World English Bible
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Goe vp vnto Gilead, and take balme, O virgine, the daughter of Egypt: in vaine shalt thou vse many medicines: for thou shalt haue no health.

Legacy Standard Bible
Go up to Gilead and obtain balm,O virgin daughter of Egypt!In vain have you multiplied remedies;There is no healing for you.

Berean Standard Bible
Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you multiply remedies; there is no healing for you.

Contemporary English Version
Egypt, no medicine can heal you, not even the soothing lotion from Gilead.

Complete Jewish Bible
Go up to Gil‘ad for its healing resin, virgin daughter of Egypt. You try many medicines, all in vain; for you there is no cure.

Darby Translation
Go up to Gilead, and fetch balm, O virgin-daughter of Egypt! In vain shalt thou multiply remedies: there is no healing for thee.

George Lamsa Translation
Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt! In vain you shall use many medicines; for you shall not be healed.

Good News Translation
People of Egypt, go to Gilead and look for medicine! All your medicine has proved useless; nothing can heal you.

Lexham English Bible
Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin of the daughter of Egypt. In vain you make use of many medicines; there is no healing for you.

Literal Translation
Go up into Gilead and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt. In vain you shall use many remedies; healing is not for you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Go vp (o Galaad) & bringe triacle vnto the doughter off Egipte: But in vayne shalt thou go to surgery, for thy wounde shall not be stopped.

American Standard Version
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no healing for thee.

Bible in Basic English
Go up to Gilead and take sweet oil, O virgin daughter of Egypt: there is no help in all your medical arts; nothing will make you well.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt; in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no cure for thee.

King James Version (1611)
Goe vp into Gilead, and take balme, O virgine, the daughter of Egypt: in vaine shalt thou vse many medicines: for thou shalt not be cured.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Go vp vnto Gilead, and bryng triacle O virgin thou daughter of Egypt: but in vayne shalt thou go to surgerie, for thy wounde shall not be stopped.

English Revised Version
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no healing for thee.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou virgyn, the douyter of Egipt, stie in to Galaad, and take medicyn. In veyn thou schalt multiplie medecyns; helthe schal not be to thee.

Update Bible Version
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.

Webster's Bible Translation
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; [for] thou shalt not be cured.

New English Translation
Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, you dear poor people of Egypt. But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; there will be no healing for you.

New King James Version
"Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt; In vain you will use many medicines; You shall not be cured.

New Living Translation
"Go up to Gilead to get medicine, O virgin daughter of Egypt! But your many treatments will bring you no healing.

New Life Bible
Go up to Gilead and get healing oil, O young daughter of Egypt! You have used many medicines for nothing. There is no healing for you.

New Revised Standard
Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Go up to Gilead and fetch balsam, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain, hast thou multiplied remedies, Healing, there is none for thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Go up into Galaad, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou multiply medicines, there shall be no cure for thee.

Revised Standard Version
Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you.

Young's Literal Translation
Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt, In vain thou hast multiplied medicines, Healing there is none for thee.

THE MESSAGE
"Oh, virgin Daughter Egypt, climb into the mountains of Gilead, get healing balm. You will vainly collect medicines, for nothing will be able to cure what ails you. The whole world will hear your anguished cries. Your wails fill the earth, As soldier falls against soldier and they all go down in a heap."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain have you multiplied remedies; There is no healing for you.

Contextual Overview

¹ These messages about different nations came to Jeremiah the prophet from the Lord . ² This message is about the nation of Egypt. It is about the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt. His army was defeated at the town of Carchemish. Carchemish is on the Euphrates River. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated the army of Pharaoh Neco at Carchemish in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. The Lord said, ³ "Get your large and small shields ready. March out for battle. ⁴ Get the horses ready. Soldiers, get on your horses. Go to your places for battle. Put your helmets on. Sharpen your spears. Put your armor on. ⁵ What do I see? That army is afraid. The soldiers are running away. Their brave soldiers are defeated. They run away in a hurry. They don't look back. There is danger all around." This is what the Lord said. ⁶ "Fast men cannot run away. Strong soldiers cannot escape. They will all stumble and fall. This will happen in the north, by the Euphrates River. ⁷ Who is coming like the Nile River? Who is coming like that strong, fast river? ⁸ It is Egypt that comes like the rising Nile River. It is Egypt that comes like that strong, fast river. Egypt says, ‘I will come and cover the earth. I will destroy the cities and the people in them.' ⁹ Horse soldiers, charge into battle. Chariot drivers, drive fast. March on, brave soldiers. Soldiers from Cush and Put, carry your shields. Soldiers from Lydia, use your bows. ¹⁰ "But on that day, the Lord God All-Powerful will win. He will give his enemies the punishment they deserve. His sword will kill until it is finished, until it has satisfied its thirst for blood. Yes, the Lord God All-Powerful will kill them as a sacrifice in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Gilead: Jeremiah 8:22, Jeremiah 51:8, Genesis 37:25, Genesis 43:11, Ezekiel 27:17

O virgin: Jeremiah 14:17, Isaiah 47:1

in vain: Jeremiah 30:12-15, Ezekiel 30:21-25, Micah 1:9, Nahum 3:19, Matthew 5:26, Luke 8:43, Luke 8:44

thou shalt not be cured: Heb. no cure shall be unto thee

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 19:21 - the daughter Job 13:4 - physicians Isaiah 23:12 - thou oppressed Jeremiah 30:15 - thy sorrow Jeremiah 46:24 - daughter

Cross-References

Genesis 29:34
Leah became pregnant again and had another son. She named this son Levi. She said, "Now, surely my husband will love me. I have given him three sons."

Genesis 46:1
So Israel began his trip to Egypt. First he went to Beersheba. There he worshiped God, the God of his father Isaac. He offered sacrifices.

Genesis 46:3
Then God said, "I am God, the God of your father. Don't be afraid to go to Egypt. In Egypt I will make you a great nation.

Genesis 46:5
Then Jacob left Beersheba and traveled to Egypt. His sons, the sons of Israel, brought their father, their wives, and all their children to Egypt. They traveled in the wagons the Pharaoh had sent.

Genesis 46:7
With him were his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters. All of his family went with him.

Genesis 46:8
These are the names of Israel's sons and family who went to Egypt with him: Reuben was Jacob's first son.

Genesis 46:11
Levi's sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Genesis 46:17
Asher's sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Also there were Beriah's sons, Heber and Malkiel.

Genesis 46:19
Benjamin was also with Jacob. Benjamin was Jacob and Rachel's son. (Joseph was also Rachel's son, but he was already in Egypt.)

Genesis 46:22
These were the sons of Jacob from his wife Rachel. There were 14 people in this family.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Go up into Gilead,.... Still the irony or sarcasm is continued Gilead was a place in the land of Israel famous for balm or balsam, used in curing wounds; see Jeremiah 8:22; hence it follows:

and take balm, O virgin, daughter of Egypt; the kingdom of Egypt, as the Targum; so called because of its glory and excellency; and because as yet it had not been conquered and brought under the power of another: now the inhabitants of it are bid to take balm or balsam, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; but this grew not in Gilead beyond Jordan, but near Jericho on this side Jordan, as Bochart z has proved from various authors; particularly Strabo a says of Jericho, that there is the paradise of balsam, an aromatic plant, and of great esteem; for there only it is produced: and so Diodorus Siculus b, speaking of places near Jericho, says, about these places, in a certain valley, grows what is called balsam, from which much profit arises; nor is the plant to be found in any other part of the world: and Justin c observes the same; that much riches accrue to the nation from the tax on balsam, which is only produced in this country, in Jericho, and the valley near it; yea, Kimchi himself elsewhere d says, that the balsam is not any where in the whole world but in Jericho. The word therefore should be rendered rosin, as also in Jeremiah 8:22; as it is by some e; and which is used in cleansing, healing, and contracting wounds, and dispersing humours, as Pliny f relates; and this here is ordered to be taken, either literally, to cure the vast number of their wounded by the Chaldeans; or rather, figuratively, they are called upon to make use of all means to recover their loss sustained; by recruiting their army, fortifying their cities, and getting fresh allies and auxiliaries; all which would yet be to no purpose:

in vain shalt thou use many medicines; [for] thou shall not be cured; notwithstanding all means made use of to repair its losses; though it should not utterly be destroyed yet should never recover its former glory.

z Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 51. col. 628, 629. a Geograph. l. 16. p. 525. b Bibliothec. l. 19. p. 734. c E Trogo, l. 36. c. 3. d Comment in 2 Kings xx. 13. So R. Levi Ben Gersom in ib. e קחי צרי "tolle resinam", Montanus, Munster, Calvin, Grotius. f Nat. Hist. l. 24. c. 6.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Balm - i. e., balsam, the usual remedy for wounds Jeremiah 8:22.

In vain shalt ... - Or, in vain hast thou multiplied medicines: healing-plaster hast thou none. Nothing shall avail to heal the blow.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 46:11. Go up into Gilead, and take balm — An irony. Egypt is so completely enfeebled by this overthrow, that her political wound is utterly incurable. This figure is used with the more propriety here, as the Egyptians have been celebrated from the remotest antiquity for their knowledge of medicine.