46
1 The
LORD’s word which
came to Jeremiah
the prophet
concerning the
nations.
2 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 “Prepare
the buckler and
shield,
and draw near
to battle!
4 Harness the
horses, and get
up, you horsemen,
and stand up
with your helmets.
Polish the spears,
put on the coats
of mail.
5 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.
6 “Don’t let
the swift flee
away,
nor the mighty
man escape.
In the north
by the river
Euphrates
they have
stumbled and
fallen.
7 “Who
is this who
rises up like
the Nile,
like rivers whose
waters surge?
8 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.’
9 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.
10 For
that day is
of the Lord,
GOD of Armies,
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 Armies, has
a sacrifice in
the north country
by the river
Euphrates.
11 Go
up into Gilead,
and take balm,
virgin daughter of
Egypt.
You use many
medicines in vain.
There is no
healing for you.
12 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.”
13 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 “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 Why
are your strong
ones swept away?
They didn’t stand,
because the LORD
pushed them.
16 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 They
cried there, ‘Pharaoh
king of Egypt
is but a
noise;
he has let the
appointed time
pass by.’
18 “As
I live,” says
the King,
whose name is
the LORD of
Armies,
“surely like
Tabor among the
mountains,
and like Carmel
by the sea,
so he will
come.
19 You
daughter who
dwells in Egypt,
furnish yourself
to go into
captivity;
for Memphis will
become a
desolation,
and will be
burned up,
without inhabitant.
20 “Egypt
is a very beautiful
heifer;
but destruction out of
the north has come.
It has come.
21 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.
22 Its
sound will go
like the serpent,
for they will
march with an
army,
and come against
her with axes,
as wood cutters.
23 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.
24 The
daughter of Egypt
will be disappointed;
she will be
delivered into the
hand of the
people of the
north.”
25 The
LORD of Armies,
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.
26 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.
27 “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.
28 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.”