Jeremiah 46
1 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations:
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.
2 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.
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.
3 Make ye ready shield and buckler, and draw near to the battle.
Pick up both your small and large shields, and advance ready for battle!
4 Harness the horses, and mount, ye horsemen, and stand forth with helmets: sharpen the spears, and put on the coats of mail.
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!
5 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.
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.
6 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.
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.
7 Who is this that cometh up like a stream, whose waters are upheaved like the rivers?
Who is this that's coming, rising like the Nile, like swirling rivers whose waters flood?
8 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.
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.”
9 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.
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.
10 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.
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.
11 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.
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.
12 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.
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.
13 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.
This is the message that the Lord gave to Jeremiah the prophet about the attack by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon on Egypt:
14 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.
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.
15 Why are thy valiant men swept away? not one hath stood, because the Lord did drive him off.
Why did Apis your bull god run away? He couldn't stand his ground because the Lord has knocked him down.
16 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.
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.”
17 They called out there, Pharaoh is king of Egypt, it was but vaunting, he hath let the time appointed pass by.
When they get there they'll say about Pharaoh king of Egypt, “He just makes a lot of noise. He wasted his opportunity.”
18 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.
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.
19 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.
Pack your bags ready for exile, daughter living in Egypt! Memphis is going to be destroyed, an empty place where no one lives.
20 O fairest heifer, Egypt! the butcher from the north cometh, he cometh.
Egypt is a beautiful young cow, but a stinging insect from the north is coming to attack her.
21 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.
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.
22 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.
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.
23 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.
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.
24 Ashamed hath been made the daughter of Egypt: she hath been given up into the hand of the people of the north.
The people of Egypt will be humiliated. They will be handed over to the people of the north.
25 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;
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.
26 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.
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.
27 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.
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.
28 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.
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.
