Messages Concerning Egypt

46 The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. 2 Concerning Egypt: Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah.

3 “Prepare small shield and shield,

and approach for the battle!

4 Harness the horses and mount the steeds!

And take your stand with helmets!

Polish the spears!

Put on the body armor!

5 Why do I see them terrified?

They are turning back

and their warriors are beaten down.

And they have fled to a place of refuge

and they do not turn back.

Terror is from all around,” ⌊declares⌋a Yahweh.

6 The swift cannot flee,

and the warrior cannot escape.

In the north by the bank of the Euphrates River,

they have stumbled and they have fallen.

7 Who is this that rises like the Nile,

like the rivers whose waters surge?

8 Egypt rises like the Nile,

even like the rivers whose waters surge.

And he says, “Let me rise,

let me cover the earth,

let me destroy cities,

and the inhabitants in them.”

9 Go up, O horses,

and drive madly, O chariots,b

and let the warriors go forth;

Cush and Put, who wield the small shield,

and Lud, who wield and bend the bow.

10 For that day is to the Lord Yahweh of hosts

a day of retribution,

to take revenge on his foes.

And the sword will devour and be satisfied,

and it will drink its fill of their blood,

for a sacrifice is for the Lord Yahweh of hosts

in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.

11 Go up to Gilead and take balm,

O virgin of the daughter of Egypt.

⌊In vain⌋c you make use of many medicines;

there is no healing for you.

12 The nations have heard your shame,

and your cry of lament fills the earth.

For warrior has stumbled against warrior,

together they have fallen, the two of them.