Jeremiah 46:5

What do I see?” ¹  says the Lord. ²  “The soldiers ³  are terrified. They are retreating. They have been defeated. They are overcome with terror; ⁴  they desert quickly without looking back.

What do I see? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are defeated. They flee in haste without looking back, and there is terror on every side," declares the LORD.

"Why have I seen it? They are terrified, They are drawing back, And their mighty men are defeated And have taken refuge in flight, Without facing back; Terror is on every side!" Declares the LORD.

But look! The Egyptian army flees in terror. The bravest of its fighting men run without a backward glance. They are terrorized at every turn, says the LORD.

But what's this I see? They're scared out of their wits! They break ranks and run for cover. Their soldiers panic. They run this way and that, stampeding blindly. It's total chaos, total confusion, danger everywhere!" GOD's Decree.

What have I seen? they are overcome with fear and turned back; their men of war are broken and have gone in flight, not looking back: fear is on every side, says the Lord.

Why do I see them terrified? They have fallen back; their warriors are beaten down, and have fled in haste. They do not look back—terror is all around! says the LORD.

Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back? Their mighty ones are beaten down; They have speedily fled, And did not look back, For fear was all around," says the LORD.

What do I see?” ¹  says the Lord. ²  “The soldiers ³  are terrified. They are retreating. They have been defeated. They are overcome with terror; ⁴  they desert quickly without looking back.

¹ tn Heb “Why do I see?” The rendering is that of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 685, 88) and J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 301; TEV; NIV). The question is not asking for information but is expressing surprise or wonder (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 951).

sn The passage takes an unexpected turn at v. 5. After ironically summoning the Egyptian army to battle, the Lord rhetorically expresses his surprise that they are so completely routed and defeated.

² tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.” This phrase, which is part of a messenger formula (i.e., that the words that are spoken are from him), are actually at the end of the verse. They have been put here for better poetic balance and to better identify the “I.”

³ tn Heb “Their soldiers.” These words are actually at the midpoint of the stanza as the subject of the third of the five verbs. However, as G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 291) note, this is the subject of all five verbs “are terrified,” “are retreating,” “have been defeated,” “have run away,” and “have not looked back.” The subject is put at the front to avoid an unidentified “they.”

⁴ tn Heb “terror is all around.”