Jeremiah 46

1 This is the word of the LORD about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet

2 concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:

3 “Deploy your shields, small and large; advance for battle!

4 Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears; put on armor!

5 Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating; their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste without looking back; terror is on every side!” declares the LORD.

6 “The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.

7 Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn?

8 Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers, boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy the cities and their people.’

9 Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots! Let the warriors come forth—Cush and Put carrying their shields, men of Lydia drawing the bow.

10 For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

11 Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.

12 The nations have heard of your shame, and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles over warrior and both of them have fallen together.”

13 This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

14 “Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.’

15 Why have your warriors been laid low? They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.

16 They continue to stumble; indeed, they have fallen over one another. They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword of the oppressor.’

17 There they will cry out: ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he has let the appointed time pass him by.’

18 As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

19 Pack your bags for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt! For Memphis will be laid waste, destroyed and uninhabited.

20 Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.

21 Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time of their punishment.

22 Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent, for the enemy will advance in force; with axes they will come against her like woodsmen cutting down trees.

23 They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD, dense though it may be, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.

24 The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”

25 The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I am about to punish Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt with her gods and kings, and those who trust in Pharaoh.

26 I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives—of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.

27 But you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid.

28 And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”

1 ¶ The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;

2 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

4 Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with [your] helmets; furbish the spears, [and] put on the brigandines.

5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed [and] turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: [for] fear [was] round about, saith the LORD.

6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.

7 Who [is] this [that] cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?

8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and [his] waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, [and] will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.

9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle [and] bend the bow.

10 For this [is] the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; [for] thou shalt not be cured.

12 ¶ The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, [and] they are fallen both together.

13 The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come [and] smite the land of Egypt.

14 Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.

15 Why are thy valiant [men] swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.

16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.

17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt [is but] a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.

18 [As] I live, saith the King, whose name [is] the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor [is] among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, [so] shall he come.

19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.

20 Egypt [is like] a very fair heifer, [but] destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.

21 Also her hired men [are] in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, [and] are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, [and] the time of their visitation.

22 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.

23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and [are] innumerable.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and [all] them that trust in him:

26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.

27 But fear not thou, 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 be in rest and at ease, and none shall make [him] afraid.

28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I [am] with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

1 This is the word of the LORD, which came unto Jeremiah the prophet against all nations.

2 Against Egypt. Against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was at the river Phrath, at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:

3 Arm your shields and tartars, and go forth to battle.

4 Harness horses and mount horsemen. Put on your helmets, sharpen your spears, and put on your armor.

5 And how is it that I see them desponding, and giving flight, and their mighty men slain? They flee, and look not about. They are afraid for ever, saith the LORD.

6 The swift shall not escape, nor the strong escape. Towards midnight at the waters of Phrath they fell and were laid low.

7 Where then is he that went up like a river, and his waves rose up like the waters?

8 Egypt went up like a river, and the waves thereof rose up like waters, and said: I will go up, and cover the land, and destroy the city, and them that dwell therein.

9 Now therefore, mount up the horses, run with the chariots, let the heroes go forth, the Moors, and from Put, that bear the shield, and the archers from Lydia.

10 For this is the day of the LORD of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his enemies, when the sword shall devour, and be filled with their blood, and be drunken. For they shall be a sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in the land northward, by the river Phrath.

11 Go up to Gilead, and fetch ointment, O virgin, daughter of Egypt. But it is vain for thee to make much ointment: thou shalt not be healed.

12 Thy reproach is heard among the heathen, thy howling is full in the land: for one hero falleth over another, and both are fallen down together.

13 This is the word of the LORD, which he spake unto Jeremiah the prophet, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was come to smite the land of Egypt:

14 Declare ye in Egypt, and tell Migdal; tell Noph and Thachpanhes, saying, Stand thou in the way: for the sword shall devour that is round about thee.

15 How is it that thy mighty ones fall to the ground, and may not stand? The LORD hath brought them down.

16 He maketh many of them to fall, one with another. Then they said: Come, let us return to our people, to our own land, from the sword of the tyrant.

17 And there they cried after them, saying, Pharaoh king of Egypt lieth down; he hath left his tent.

18 As surely as I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, he shall go up as high as mount Tabor among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea.

19 Take thy wayfaring, thou inhabitant, daughter of Egypt: for Noph shall be desolate and burned, and none shall dwell therein.

20 Egypt is a very fair calf: but the slayer cometh from the north.

21 And the hirelings also that dwell within are as fatted calves: but yet they must turn, and flee away together, and shall not stand: for the day of their calamity shall come upon them, even the time of their visitation.

22 They go forth with a clash of armour, and come with strength, and bring axes upon them like hewers of wood.

23 These shall so smite in their forest, saith the LORD, that they shall not be numbered: for there are no more of them than of locusts, which no man can number.

24 The daughter of Egypt standeth with shame: for she is given into the hands of the people of the north.

25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith, Behold, I will punish the ruler of Noah, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings, and Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him,

26 And I will deliver them into the hand of them that are after their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And afterward thou shalt be inhabited as of old, saith the LORD.

27 But thou, my servant Jacob, fear not; and thou, Israel, despair not. For, behold, I will save thee out of far countries, and thy seed out of the land of his prison; and Jacob shall return, and be in peace, and have abundance; and none shall affright him.

28 Therefore fear not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD; for I am with thee. I will make an end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make an end of thee, but I will chasten thee with measures, that I may not leave thee unpunished.