Jeremiah 46:13–26

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

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in ^aMigdol,

Proclaim also in Memphis and ^bTahpanhes;

Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,

For the ^csword has devoured those around you.’

¹⁵“Why have your ^amighty ones become prostrate?

They do not stand because the Lord has ^bthrust them down.

¹⁶“They have repeatedly ^astumbled;

Indeed, they have fallen one against another.

Then they said, ‘Get up! And ^blet us go back

To our own people and our native land

Away from the ^1csword of the oppressor.’

¹⁷“¹They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but ^aa big noise;

He has let the appointed time pass by!’

¹⁸“As I live,” declares the ^aKing

Whose name is the Lord 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 ^bdaughter dwelling in Egypt,

For ^cMemphis will become a desolation;

It will even be burned down and ¹bereft of 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 too have turned back and have fled away together;

They did not stand their ground.

For the day of their calamity has come upon them,

The time of their ^cpunishment.

²²“Its sound moves along like a serpent;

For they move on ¹like an army

And come to her as woodcutters with axes.

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

“Surely it will no more be found,

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 ¹power of the ^apeople of the north.”

²⁵The Lord 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 over to the ¹power of those who are ^aseeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his ²officers. ^bAfterwards, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the Lord.