Jeremias 46
1 And it came to pass in the ninth month of Sedekias king of Juda, [that] Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
The LORD’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2 And in the eleventh year of Sedekiass, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken [up].
Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3 And all the leaders of the king of Babylon went in, and sat in the middle gate, Marganasar, and Samagoth, and Nabusachar, and Nabusaris, Nagargas, Naserrabamath, and the rest of the leaders of the king of Babylon,
“Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle!
Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand up with your helmets. Polish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward. Their mighty ones are beaten down, have fled in haste, and don’t look back. Terror is on every side,” says the LORD.
“Don’t let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. In the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen.
“Who is this who rises up like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge?
Egypt rises up like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth. I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’
Go up, you horses! Rage, you chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
For that day is of the Lord, GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself of his adversaries. The sword will devour and be satiated, and will drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, GOD of Hosts, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. You use many medicines in vain. There is no healing for you.
The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they both fall together.”
The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt:
14 and they sent, and took Jeremias out of the court of the prison, and gave him [in charge] to Godolias the son of Achicam, the son of Saphan: and they brought him out, and he sat in the midst of the people.
“Declare in Egypt, publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes; say, ‘Stand up, and prepare, for the sword has devoured around you.’
15 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias in the court of the prison, saying,
Why are your strong ones swept away? They didn’t stand, because the LORD pushed them.
16 Go and say to Abdemelech the Ethiopian, Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I [will] bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good.
He made many to stumble. Yes, they fell on one another. They said, ‘Arise! Let’s go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.’
17 But I will save you in that day, and I will by no means deliver you into the hands of the men before whom you are afraid.
They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’
18 For I will surely save you, and you shall by no means fall by the sword; and you shall find your life, because you did trust in me, says the Lord.
“As I live,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, “surely like Tabor amongst the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so he will come.
You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis will become a desolation, and will be burnt up, without inhabitant.
“Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come. It has come.
Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall, for they also are turned back. They have fled away together. They didn’t stand, for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation.
Its sound will go like the serpent, for they will march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
They will cut down her forest,” says the LORD, “though it can’t be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.
The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed; she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.”
The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him.
I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says the LORD.
“But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant. Don’t be dismayed, Israel; for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid.
Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says the LORD, “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
