Jeremiah 46
1 These are messages that Yahweh gave to the prophet Jeremiah about [other] nations.
The word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2 After Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah, had been ruling Judah for almost four years, this message about Egypt was given [by Yahweh]. It was when the army of King Neco of Egypt was defeated by the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon along the Euphrates River. [This is what Yahweh said: “The officers of the army of Egypt are saying to their troops],
Of Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh-Necho, the king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, smote, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3 ‘Prepare your shields and march out to fight the battle!
Prepare ye the buckler and shield, And move on to battle!
4 Put harnesses on your horses, and get on their backs. (Get into your positions/Line up) [for the battle]; put on your helmets. Sharpen your spears, and put on your armor!’
Harness the horses, and mount, ye riders! Stand forth in your helmets; Make bright the spears, And put on the coats of mail!
5 But what [RHQ] do I see? I see that the soldiers of Egypt will be terrified and will be fleeing. [Even] the bravest of their soldiers will be running away, without [even] looking backward! [I, ] Yahweh, say that [their soldiers] will be terrified on all sides!
Wherefore do I see them dismayed, and turned back? Even their mighty ones are smitten; They flee apace; they look not back. Terror is on every side, saith Jehovah.
6 [Even] the fastest [runners] will try to run away, but [even the greatest of] their warriors will not escape. In the north, by the Euphrates [River], they will stumble and fall.
Let not the swift attempt to flee away, Nor the mighty man to escape; Toward the North by the river Euphrates shall they stumble and fall.
7 What group is this that will be covering the land like the water of the Nile [River] covers the land when it floods?
Who is he that riseth up like the Nile, Whose waters swell like floods?
8 [It is the army of] Egypt that will be covering the land like a surging/huge flood, and they will boast that they will cover the earth and will destroy cities and the people [who live in them].
Egypt riseth up like the Nile, And like floods do his waters swell. He saith, “I will arise, I will cover the land, I will destroy the city, and them that dwell therein.”
9 You [riders of] horses, charge/rush [into the battle]! You [drivers of] chariots, drive furiously! [All] you warriors from Ethiopia and Libya who carry your shields, you warriors from Lydia who shoot arrows, you come!
Come up, ye horses, and rage, ye chariots! And let the mighty men go forth, The Ethiopians, and the Libyans, that bear the shield, And the Lydians, that bear and bend the bow!
10 But, [you need to know that] this is the day when [I], Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels, will get revenge on my enemies. With my sword [PRS] I will kill [my enemies] until I am satisfied; my sword will [be like a monster that] [MET, PRS] drinks the blood [of the animals it kills] until it is no longer thirsty. [The enemy soldiers who will be killed] in the north beside the Euphrates River [will be like] [MET] a sacrifice to [me], the Commander of the armies of angels.
This is the day of the Lord Jehovah of hosts, A day of vengeance, to avenge himself of his enemies; And the sword shall devour, and satiate itself, And it shall be made drunk with their blood. For Jehovah of hosts hath a sacrifice In the North country, by the river Euphrates.
11 You people [IDM] of Egypt, go up to the Gilead [region] to obtain medicine; but it will be useless to take all those medicines; you will not be healed.
Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, daughter of Egypt! In vain shalt thou use many medicines; There is no cure for thee!
12 [People in] the [other] nations will hear how you were humiliated. [People] all over the earth will hear you wailing. [Your mighty] warriors will stumble over each other and they will all fall down together.”
The nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the earth; For they have stumbled, the mighty against the mighty, And they are fallen both together.
13 [Then] Yahweh gave me this message about King Nebuchadnezzar when he planned to attack Egypt [with his army]:
The word which Jehovah spake to Jeremiah the prophet, concerning the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt.
14 “Shout [this message] throughout Egypt! Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpenes [cities]! ‘(Get into your positions/Line up) [for the battle]; Prepare to defend yourselves, because [everyone] around you will be killed.’ [PRS, MTY]
Declare ye in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol, Proclaim ye also in Noph and Tahpanhes! Say ye, “Stand fast and prepare thyself, For the sword shall devour round about thee!”
15 Your god is a bull; Why does he fall down? He will not be able to stand up, because Yahweh will knock him down.
Wherefore are thy mighty ones overthrown? They stood not, because Jehovah cast them down.
16 The soldiers from other countries will stumble and fall over each other, and [then] they will say to each other, ‘Let’s get up and go back to our own people, to our own land. Let’s get away from the swords of our enemies!’
He caused many to fall; one fell upon another; And they said, “Arise, and let us go to our own people, And to the land of our nativity, from the overpowering sword.”
17 There [in Egypt] they will say, ‘The king of Egypt talks loudly, but when our [army] had an opportunity [to defeat our enemies], they failed.’
There they cry, “Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is undone! He hath let pass the appointed time.”
18 [I, ] the King, who am called the Commander of the armies of angels, say this: ‘As [surely as] I live, someone’s army will be coming [to fight against the army of Egypt]. They will be [extremely powerful], [as though they were as tall] as Tabor Hill, or [as high] as Carmel [Mountain] close to the [Mediterranean] Sea.
As I live, saith the King, Whose name is Jehovah of hosts: Like Tabor among the mountains, And like Carmel by the sea, he cometh! Prepare thyself travelling equipage,
19 [All] you people who live in Egypt, pack your possessions/clothes and prepare to be exiled. Memphis [city] will be destroyed; it will become a ruin, and no one will be living there.
Thou who dwellest in Egypt! For Noph shall become waste, Yea, desolate without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is [like] [SIM] a beautiful young cow, but [the army of a powerful king] from the northeast will come to attack it [like] a horsefly [MET] [bites a cow].
Egypt is a fair heifer, But destruction cometh; it cometh from the North.
21 The (mercenaries/soldiers [from other countries] who have been hired) will become like [SIM] fat calves; but they also will turn around and run away; they will not stand [there and fight], because it will be a day when there will be a [great] disaster in Egypt, a day when their people will be [greatly] punished.
Her mercenaries also in the midst of her are like fatted bullocks; Yet they also turn back; they flee together; they stand not; For the day of their calamity is come upon them, And the time of their punishment.
22 [The soldiers of] Egypt will run away, as silently as a snake scurries/crawls away. [The army of] the enemy will advance; they will march along carrying their axes like [SIM] men who cut down trees.
Her voice shall be heard like that of a serpent, When they shall march against her with their forces, And come against her with axes like fellers of trees.
23 [I, ] Yahweh, say that they will kill the soldiers [of Egypt] as though [SIM] they were a forest of trees, because the enemy soldiers will be as numerous as [a swarm of] locusts.
They shall cut down her forest, though it be impenetrable; For they exceed the locusts in multitude, And are innumerable.
24 The people of Egypt will be humiliated; they will be conquered by people from the northeast.’
The daughter of Egypt is brought to shame; She is given into the hand of the people of the North.
25 [I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israelis [worship], say, ‘I will punish Amon, [the god whom the people] of Thebes [city] worship, and [all] the [other] gods in Egypt. [I will punish] the King of Egypt and [all] those who trust in him.
Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saith: Behold, I will punish Ammon of No, And Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings; Even Pharaoh and all that trust in him.
26 I will cause them to be captured by those who want to kill them—Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, and his army officers. But many years later, people will live in Egypt again. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.’
And I will deliver them into the hands of those that seek their lives, And into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, And into the hand of his servants. But after this it shall be inhabited, As in the days of old, saith Jehovah.
27 But you people of Israel who serve me, do not be at all dismayed [DOU] now, because some day I will bring you back from distant places; I will bring your descendants from the land to which they were exiled. [Then you] Israeli people will again live peacefully and safely, and there will not be any [nation] to cause you to be terrified.
But fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, And be not thou dismayed, O Israel! For, behold, I will bring thee safe from afar, And thy posterity from the land of their captivity; And Jacob shall return and be at rest, Yea, he shall be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
28 [I, ] Yahweh, say to you people of Israel who serve me, ‘Do not be afraid, because I will be with you. I will completely destroy the nations among whom I have scattered you, but I will not completely get rid of you. I will punish you, but I will punish you only as severely as you deserve: It would be wrong if I did not punish you at all.’”
Fear thou not, O Jacob, my servant, saith Jehovah, For I will be with thee; When I shall make a full end of all the nations Whither I have dispersed thee, Yet will I not make a full end of thee; I will correct thee in measure; Yet must I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
