Judgment on Egypt
JEREMIAH 46 [†]The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet c concerning the nations.
2[^][†]About Egypt. d Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in e the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3[†] f “Prepare buckler and shield,
and advance for battle!
mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
f polish your spears,
put on your armor!
5[†] Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
and have turned backward.
Their h warriors are beaten down
and have fled in haste;
i they look not back—
j terror on every side!
declares the LORD.
6 “The swift cannot flee away,
nor the warrior escape;
d in the north by the river Euphrates
k they have stumbled and fallen.
7[†] “Who is this, l rising like the Nile,
like rivers m whose waters surge?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers m whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
men of Cush and o Put who handle the shield,
p men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
10[^][†] q That day is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts,
r a day of vengeance,
s to avenge himself on his foes.
t The sword shall devour and be sated
and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord GOD of hosts holds u a sacrifice
v in the north country w by the river Euphrates.
11[†] x Go up to Gilead, and take x balm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
y there is no healing for you.
12[†] The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
z for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
they have both fallen together.”
13[†]The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of a Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
14[†] “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in b Migdol;
proclaim in b Memphis and b Tahpanhes;
say, c ‘Stand ready and be prepared,
for d the sword shall devour around you.’
15[†] Why are your mighty ones face down?
They do not stand [1]
because the LORD thrust them down.
16 He made many stumble, f and they fell,
and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
and to the land of our birth,
g because of the sword of the oppressor.’
17[†] Call the name of h Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’
18[†] i “As I live, declares the King,
j whose name is the LORD of hosts,
like k Tabor among the mountains
and like l Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
19[†] m Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
O n inhabitants of Egypt!
For o Memphis shall become a waste,
a ruin, p without inhabitant.
20[†] “A beautiful q heifer is Egypt,
but a biting fly r from the north has come upon her.
21[†] Even her hired soldiers in her midst
are like s fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
t the time of their punishment.
22[†] “She makes u a sound like a serpent gliding away;
for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
v like those who fell trees.
23 v They shall cut down her forest,
declares the LORD,
though it is impenetrable,
because w they are more numerous than locusts;
they are without number.
24[†] The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
she shall be delivered into the hand of r a people from the north.”
25[†]The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon x Amon of y Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt z and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26[†] a I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. b Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited c as in the days of old, declares the LORD.
27[†] d “But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
28 d Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the LORD,
for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
to which I have driven you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
e I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”