Jeremiah 46
1 In the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah the prophet about foreign nations.
That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations,
2 This concerns Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt and the Egyptian army which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
For Egypt, concerning the force of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, that hath been by the river Phrat, in Carchemish, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
3 Pick up both your small and large shields, and advance ready for battle!
'Set ye in array shield and buckler, And draw nigh to battle.
4 Put the harnesses on the horses and get into your chariots; take your positions with your helmets on! Sharpen your spears; put on your armor!
Gird the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, And station yourselves with helmets, Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail.
5 Why do I see their lines broken and retreating? Their soldiers are defeated. They run away so quickly they don't even look back because they're so terrified by what's happening around them, declares the Lord.
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed — They are turned backward, And their mighty ones are beaten down, And [to] a refuge they have fled, and not turned the face? Fear [is] round about — an affirmation of Jehovah.
6 Even the fastest of them can't get away; the soldiers can't escape. There in the north beside the Euphrates they fall and die.
The swift do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, Northward, by the side of the river Phrat, They have stumbled and fallen.
7 Who is this that's coming, rising like the Nile, like swirling rivers whose waters flood?
Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves!
8 Egypt is rising like the Nile; its waters swirl like flooding rivers, boasting, “I will rise and sweep over the earth; I will destroy towns and the people in them.”
Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it.
9 Horses, charge in! Chariots, drive like crazy! Have the infantry advance: soldiers from Ethiopia and Put carrying their shields, archers from Lydia with their bows.
Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling — treading the bow.
10 But this is the day of the Lord God Almighty, a day of retribution when he takes vengeance on his enemies. The sword will destroy until it is satisfied, until it's had enough of their blood. The Lord God Almighty is having a sacrifice in the north country beside the Euphrates.
And that day [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat.
11 Go and find some healing ointment in Gilead, Virgin Daughter of Egypt! But whatever you use to help you will fail, because there's nothing that will heal you.
Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt, In vain thou hast multiplied medicines, Healing there is none for thee.
12 The other nations have heard how you were humiliated in defeat. Everyone can hear your cries of pain. Soldiers fall over each other, and die together.
Nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the land, For the mighty on the mighty did stumble, Together they have fallen — both of them!'
13 This is the message that the Lord gave to Jeremiah the prophet about the attack by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon on Egypt:
The word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt:
14 Shout a warning in Egypt! Tell everyone in Migdol, and in Memphis and Tahpanhes: Get ready to defend yourselves, because war is destroying everything around you.
'Declare ye in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, Yea, sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes say: Station thyself, yea, prepare for thee, For a sword hath devoured around thee,
15 Why did Apis your bull god run away? He couldn't stand his ground because the Lord has knocked him down.
Wherefore hath thy bull been swept away? He hath not stood, because Jehovah thrust him away.
16 Many soldiers trip and fall over one another and say, “Come on! Let's get back home to our people where we were born, otherwise we're going to be killed.”
He hath multiplied the stumbling, Yea one hath fallen upon his neighbour, And they say: Rise, and we turn back to our people, And unto the land of our birth, Because of the oppressing sword.
17 When they get there they'll say about Pharaoh king of Egypt, “He just makes a lot of noise. He wasted his opportunity.”
They have cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt [is] a desolation, Passed by hath the appointed time.
18 As I live, declares the King who has the name “the Lord Almighty,” the king of Babylon will come. He is like Mount Tabor that stands out from the other mountains, like Mount Carmel high above the sea.
I live — an affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name, Surely as Tabor [is] among mountains, And as Carmel by the sea — he cometh in,
19 Pack your bags ready for exile, daughter living in Egypt! Memphis is going to be destroyed, an empty place where no one lives.
Goods for removal make for thee, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt, For Noph becometh a desolation, And hath been burnt up, without inhabitant.
20 Egypt is a beautiful young cow, but a stinging insect from the north is coming to attack her.
A heifer very fair [is] Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her.
21 The soldiers that Egypt hired are like calves made fat for slaughter. They will also retreat. They won't stand and fight—they will all run away. Their day of destruction is coming; the time when they'll be punished.
Even her hired ones in her midst [are] as calves of the stall, For even they have turned, They have fled together, they have not stood, For the day of their calamity hath come on them, The time of their inspection.
22 The Egyptians will retreat with a rustle like a snake sliding away, because the enemy will attack them with axes, coming at them like wood-cutters chopping down trees.
Its voice as a serpent goeth on, For with a force they go, And with axes they have come in to her, As hewers of trees.
23 They will cut them down like a thick forest, declares the Lord, because the invaders are like a swarm of locusts—there's so many of them that they can't be counted.
They have cut down her forest, An affirmation of Jehovah — for it is not searched, For they have been more than the grasshopper, And they have no numbering.
24 The people of Egypt will be humiliated. They will be handed over to the people of the north.
Ashamed hath been the daughter of Egypt, She hath been given into the hand of the people of the north.
25 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Watch, because I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and Pharaoh. I will punish the people of Egypt with their gods and kings, and everyone who trusts in Pharaoh.
Said hath Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after Amon of No, And after Pharaoh, and after Egypt, And after her gods, and after her kings, And after Pharaoh, and after those trusting in him,
26 I'm going to hand them over to those who want to kill them, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after all this happens, people will live in Egypt as they used to, declares the Lord.
And I have given them into the hand of those seeking their life, And into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of his servants, And afterwards it is inhabited, As [in] days of old — an affirmation of Jehovah.
27 But you, descendants of Jacob my servant, you don't have to be fearful. Israelites, you don't need to be discouraged. I promise to rescue you from your distant places of exile, your descendants from the countries where they're being held captive. You will go home to a quiet and comfortable life, free from any threats.
And thou, thou dost not fear, my servant Jacob, Nor [art] thou dismayed, O Israel, For lo, I am saving thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, And Jacob hath turned back, And hath been at rest, and been at ease, And there is none disturbing.
28 You descendants of Jacob, don't be afraid! declares the Lord, for I will be with you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I've scattered you, I won't completely destroy you. However, I will discipline you as you deserve, and you can be sure I won't leave you unpunished.
Thou, thou dost not fear, My servant Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah — for with thee I [am], For I make an end of all the nations Whither I have driven thee, And of thee I do not make an end, And I have reproved thee in judgment, And do not entirely acquit thee!'
