Jeremiah 2:18

What good will it do you ¹  then ²  to go down to Egypt to seek help from the Egyptians? ³  What good will it do you ⁴  to go over to Assyria to seek help from the Assyrians? ⁵ 

Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Shihor? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the River?

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

"What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and Assyria? What good to you are the waters of the Nile and the Euphrates?

"And now, what do you think you'll get by going off to Egypt? Maybe a cool drink of Nile River water? Or what do you think you'll get by going off to Assyria? Maybe a long drink of Euphrates River water?

And now, what have you to do on the way to Egypt, to get your drink from the waters of the Nile? or what have you to do on the way to Assyria, to get your drink from the waters of the River?

What then 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?

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?

What good will it do you ¹  then ²  to go down to Egypt to seek help from the Egyptians? ³  What good will it do you ⁴  to go over to Assyria to seek help from the Assyrians? ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

² tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).

³ tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.

⁴ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

⁵ tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.