Jeremiah 46:13–26

¹³The Lord spoke this message to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who will defeat Egypt. 

¹⁴“Tell this in Egypt; announce this in Migdol. 

Make it known in Memphis and in Tahpanhes. 

Say, ‘Take your positions, and get ready. 

Swords will kill those around you.’ 

¹⁵Why should your soldiers be cut down? 

They can’t stand because the Lord will push them down. 

¹⁶They have repeatedly stumbled, and now they have fallen. 

They say to each other, 

‘Get up! Let’s go back to our people, 

to the land where we were born, 

and escape our enemy’s sword.’ 

¹⁷There they will cry, ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is a big windbag. 

He has missed his chance.’ 

¹⁸“As I live,” declares the king, whose name is the Lord of Armies, 

“someone who is like Mount Tabor among the mountains will come. 

Someone who is like Mount Carmel by the sea will come. 

¹⁹Pack your bags, inhabitants of Egypt, 

because you will be taken away as captives. 

Memphis will become a dreary wasteland, 

a pile of rubble where no one lives. 

²⁰“Egypt is like a beautiful cow, 

but a horsefly from the north will attack it. 

²¹Egypt’s hired soldiers are like fattened calves. 

They will turn and run away together. 

They won’t stand their ground. 

The day of destruction is coming. 

At that time they will be punished. 

²²Egypt will hiss like a snake as it slithers away. 

Its enemies will come with full force. 

They will attack it with axes like those who chop wood. 

²³They will cut down the forest,” declares the Lord, 

“since Egypt can’t be found. 

They are more numerous than locusts; they can’t be counted. 

²⁴The people of Egypt will be put to shame. 

They will be handed over to the people from the north.” 

²⁵The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says, 

“I’m going to punish Amon, who is the god of Thebes. 

I will also punish Pharaoh, Egypt, its gods, its kings, 

and whoever trusts Pharaoh. 

²⁶I’ll hand them over to those who want to kill them, 

to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his officers. 

Afterward, they will live in peace as they did long ago,” 

declares the Lord.