Jeremiah 46:11

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 The Lord spoke this word to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations: ² This message is to Egypt. It is about the army of Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at the city of Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This was in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. This is the Lord 's message to Egypt: ³ "Prepare your shields, large and small, and march out for battle! ⁴ Harness the horses and get on them! Go to your places for battle and put on your helmets! Polish your spears. Put on your armor! ⁵ What do I see? That army is terrified, and the soldiers are running away. Their warriors are defeated. They run away quickly without looking back. There is terror on every side!" says the Lord . ⁶ "The fast runners cannot run away; the strong soldiers cannot escape. They stumble and fall in the north, by the Euphrates River. ⁷ Who is this, rising up like the Nile River, like strong, fast rivers? ⁸ Egypt rises up like the Nile River, like strong, fast rivers. Egypt says, ‘I will rise up and cover the earth. I will destroy cities and the people in them!' ⁹ Horsemen, charge into battle! Chariot drivers, drive hard! March on, brave soldiers— soldiers from the countries of Cush and Put who carry shields, soldiers from Lydia who use bows. ¹⁰ "But that day belongs to the Lord God All-Powerful. At that time he will give those people the punishment they deserve. The sword will kill until it is finished, until it satisfies its thirst for their blood. The Lord God All-Powerful will offer 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 gave birth to another son. She named him Levi and said, "Now, surely my husband will be close to me, because I have given him three sons."

Genesis 46:1
So Israel took all he had and started his trip. He went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

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

Genesis 46:5
Then Jacob left Beersheba. The sons of Israel loaded their father, their children, and their wives in the wagons the king of Egypt had sent.

Genesis 46:7
his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters. He took all his family to Egypt with him.

Genesis 46:8
Now these are the names of the children of Israel who went into Egypt (Jacob and his descendants). 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, and Beriah, and their sister was Serah. Beriah's sons were Heber and Malkiel.

Genesis 46:19
The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

Genesis 46:22
These are the sons of Jacob by his wife Rachel. There were fourteen persons in this part of Jacob's 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.