Jeremiah 46
1 This is the word of the LORD about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet
The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations:
2 concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:
Concerning Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho the king of Egypt, which was [posted] by the river Euphrates in Karkemish, which Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoyakim the son of Josiah the king of Judah.
3 “Deploy your shields, small and large; advance for battle!
Make ye ready shield and buckler, and draw near to the battle.
4 Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears; put on armor!
Harness the horses, and mount, ye horsemen, and stand forth with helmets: sharpen the spears, and put on the coats of mail.
5 Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating; their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste without looking back; terror is on every side!”
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed, moving backward? while their mighty ones are beaten down, and seek safety in flight, and look not back? There is terror round about, saith the Lord.
6 “The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.
The swift cannot flee away, nor can the mighty man escape: toward the north by the shore of the river Euphrates do they stumble and fall.
7 Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn?
Who is this that cometh up like a stream, whose waters are upheaved like the rivers?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers, boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy the cities and their people.’
Egypt cometh up like a stream, and like the rivers are the waters upheaved; and he saith, I will go up, I will cover the land; I will destroy the city and those that dwell therein.
9 Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots! Let the warriors come forth— Cush and Put carrying their shields, men of Lydia drawing the bow.
Come up, ye horses; and rush along wildly, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth: Cush and Put, that grasp the shield, and the Ludim, that grasp and bend the bow.
10 For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
And this same day is for the Lord, the Eternal of hosts, a day of vengeance, to be avenged on his adversaries; that the sword may devour, and may be satiated and made drunken with their blood; for there is a sacrifice for the Lord the Eternal of hosts in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11 Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
Go up into Gil'ad, and fetch balm, O virgin, daughter of Egypt: in vain usest thou many remedies; there is no recovery for thee.
12 The nations have heard of your shame, and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles over warrior and both of them have fallen together.”
Nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry of anguish hath filled the earth; for the mighty man over the mighty have they stumbled, together are both of them fallen.
13 This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
The word which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, concerning the coming of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt.
14 “Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.’
Announce ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Thachpanches: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thyself; for the sword devoureth round about thee.
15 Why have your warriors been laid low? They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.
Why are thy valiant men swept away? not one hath stood, because the Lord did drive him off.
16 They continue to stumble; indeed, they have fallen over one another. They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword of the oppressor.’
He caused many to stumble; yea, one also fell over the other; and they said, Arise, and let us return to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from before the wasting sword.
17 There they will cry out: ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he has let the appointed time pass him by.’
They called out there, Pharaoh is king of Egypt, it was but vaunting, he hath let the time appointed pass by.
18 As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.
As I live, saith the King, the Lord of hosts is his name, Surely as Thabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, so shall he come.
19 Pack your bags for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt! For Memphis will be laid waste, destroyed and uninhabited.
Appurtenances of exile make for thyself, O thou inhabitress, daughter of Egypt; for Noph shall be made a waste and be left desolate without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.
O fairest heifer, Egypt! the butcher from the north cometh, he cometh.
21 Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them— the time of their punishment.
Also her hired troops in the midst of her are like fatted calves; for they also are turned round, are fled away together, they do not stand; because the day of their calamity is come upon them, the time of their punishment.
22 Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent, for the enemy will advance in force; with axes they will come against her like woodsmen cutting down trees.
Her cry shall come like [the hissing of] a serpent; for with an army shall they march, and with axes do they come against her, like hewers of wood.
23 They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD, dense though it may be, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.
They cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched out; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and there is no number to them.
24 The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”
Ashamed hath been made the daughter of Egypt: she hath been given up into the hand of the people of the north.
25 The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I am about to punish Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt with her gods and kings, and those who trust in Pharaoh.
The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, hath said, Behold, I will send visitation on Ahmon of No, and on Pharaoh, and on Egypt, and on her gods, and on her kings; even on Pharaoh, and on those that trust on him;
26 I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives—of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.
And I will give them up into the hand of those that seek their life, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward shall she be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the Lord.
27 But you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid.
But thou, —fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel; for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity: and Jacob shall return, and he shall be at rest and at ease, with none to make him afraid.
28 And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
Thou, —fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord; for I am with thee: and although I make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, yet of thee will I not make a full end; and I will correct thee in measure; yet wholly will I not leave thee unpunished.
