Jeremiah 46:13–26

¹³This is the ¹message which Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the ^acoming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to ^bstrike down the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt and cause it to be heard in ^aMigdol;

Cause it to be heard also in Memphis and ^bTahpanhes;

Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,

For the ^csword has devoured those around you.’

¹⁵“Why are your ^amighty ones thrown down?

They do not stand because Yahweh has ^bthrust them down.

¹⁶“They have repeatedly ^astumbled;

Indeed, they have fallen one against another.

Then they said, ‘Rise up! And ^blet us return

To our own people and land of our birth

Away from the ^1csword of the oppressor.’

¹⁷“¹They called out there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but ^aa rumbling;

He has let the appointed time pass by!’

¹⁸“As I live,” declares the ^aKing

Whose name is Yahweh of hosts,

“Surely one shall come who looms up like ^bTabor among the mountains,

Or like ^cCarmel by the sea.

¹⁹“Make your baggage ready for ^aexile,

O inhabitant of the ^bdaughter of Egypt,

For ^cMemphis will become a desolation;

It will even be turned into ruin and without inhabitants.

²⁰“Egypt is a pretty ^aheifer,

But a ¹horsefly is coming ^bfrom the north—it is coming!

²¹“Also her ^amercenaries in her midst

Are like ¹fattened ^bcalves,

For even they have turned back and have fled away together;

They did not stand their ground.

For the day of their disaster has come upon them,

The time of their ^cpunishment.

²²“Its sound moves along like a serpent;

For they move on ¹like a military force

And come to her as woodcutters with axes.

²³“They have cut down her ^aforest,” declares Yahweh;

“Surely it will no longer be searched out,

Even though ¹they are now more numerous than ^blocusts

And are without number.

²⁴“The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,

Given over to the hand of the ^apeople of the north.”

²⁵Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of ^aThebes, and ^bPharaoh, and Egypt along with her ^cgods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who ^dtrust in him.

²⁶“I shall give them into the hand of those who are ^aseeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. ^bAfterwards, however, it will be dwelt in like in the days of old,” declares Yahweh.