Jeremiah 46:1–26

Judgment on Egypt

46 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against athe nations. 2 Against bEgypt.

cConcerning the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the River Euphrates in Carchemish, and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ddefeated in the efourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

3 “Order 1the 2buckler and shield,

And draw near to battle!

4 Harness the horses,

And mount up, you horsemen!

Stand forth with your helmets,

Polish the spears,

fPut on the armor!

5 Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back?

Their mighty ones are beaten down;

They have speedily fled,

And did not look back,

For gfear was all around,” says the Lord.

6 “Do not let the swift flee away,

Nor the mighty man escape;

They will hstumble and fall

Toward the north, by the River Euphrates.

7 “Who is this coming up ilike a flood,

Whose waters move like the rivers?

8 Egypt rises up like a flood,

And its waters move like the rivers;

And he says, ‘I will go up and cover the earth,

I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.’

9 Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots!

And let the mighty men come forth:

3The Ethiopians and 4the Libyans who handle the shield,

And the Lydians jwho handle and bend the bow.

10 For this is kthe day of the Lord God of hosts,

A day of vengeance,

That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.

lThe sword shall devour;

It shall be 5satiated and made drunk with their blood;

For the Lord God of hosts mhas a sacrifice

In the north country by the River Euphrates.

11 “Go nup to Gilead and take balm,

oO virgin, the daughter of Egypt;

In vain you will use many medicines;

pYou shall not be cured.

12 The nations have heard of your qshame,

And your cry has filled the land;

For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty;

They both have fallen together.”

Babylonia Will Strike Egypt

13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would come and rstrike the land of Egypt.

14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in sMigdol;

Proclaim in 6Noph and in tTahpanhes;

Say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves,

For the sword devours all around you.’

15 Why are your valiant men swept away?

They did not stand

Because the Lord drove them away.

16 He made many fall;

Yes, uone fell upon another.

And they said, ‘Arise!

vLet us go back to our own people

And to the land of our nativity

From the oppressing sword.’

17 They cried there,

‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise.

He has passed by the appointed time!’

18 “As I live,” says the King,

wWhose name is the Lord of hosts,

“Surely as Tabor is among the mountains

And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.

19 O xyou daughter dwelling in Egypt,

Prepare yourself yto go into captivity!

For 7Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.

20 “Egypt is a very pretty zheifer,

But destruction comes, it comes afrom the north.

21 Also her mercenaries are in her midst like 8fat bulls,

For they also are turned back,

They have fled away together.

They did not stand,

For bthe day of their calamity had come upon them,

The time of their punishment.

22 cHer noise shall go like a serpent,

For they shall march with an army

And come against her with axes,

Like those who chop wood.

23 “They shall dcut down her forest,” says the Lord,

“Though it cannot be searched,

Because they are innumerable,

And more numerous than egrasshoppers.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;

She shall be delivered into the hand

Of fthe people of the north.”

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring punishment on 9Amon of gNo, 1and Pharaoh and Egypt, hwith their gods and their kings—Pharaoh and those who itrust in him. 26 jAnd I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of his servants. kAfterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the Lord.