Jeremiah 46:13–26

Babylonia Will Strike Egypt

¹³The word that the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt:^*

¹⁴Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol;

proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes;

Say, “Take your stations and be ready,

for the sword shall devour those around you.”^*

¹⁵Why has Apis^l fled?

Why did your bull not stand?

Because the Lord thrust him down.

¹⁶Your multitude stumbled^m and fell,

and one said to another,

“Come, let us go back to our own people

and to the land of our birth,

because of the destroying sword.”^*

¹⁷Give Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the name

“Braggart who missed his chance.”^*

¹⁸As I live, says the King,

whose name is the Lord of hosts,

one is coming

like Tabor among the mountains

and like Carmel by the sea.^*

¹⁹Pack your bags for exile,

sheltered daughter Egypt!

For Memphis shall become a waste,

a ruin, without inhabitant.^*

²⁰A beautiful heifer is Egypt—

a gadfly from the north lights upon her.^*

²¹Even her mercenaries in her midst

are like fatted calves;

they, too, have turned and fled together;

they did not stand,

for the day of their calamity has come upon them,

the time of their punishment.^*

²²She makes a sound like a snake gliding away,

for her enemies march in force

and come against her with axes,

like those who fell trees.^*

²³They shall cut down her forest,

says the Lord,

though it is impenetrable,

because they are more numerous

than locusts;

they are without number.^*

²⁴Daughter Egypt shall be put to shame;

she shall be handed over to a people from the north.^*

²⁵The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: See, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him.^{* 26}I will hand them over to those who seek their life, to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and his servants. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the Lord.^*