Chapter 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 ", usually pronounced Yahweh). 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 amongst 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 burnt 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 ."