The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 46 Prophecy against various nations. The invasion and conquest of Egypt

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 46

Prophecy against various nations. The invasion and conquest of Egypt

1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2 Concerning Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish; which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiachin son of Josiah, king of Judah.

3 Prepare the shield and buckler, and draw near to battle.

4 Saddle the horses, and mount, you horsemen, and prepare yourselves with helmets; sharpen the spears, put on your breastplates.

5 Why do I see the fearful turning back? Their heroes are defeated, and they flee, without looking back; terror is all around, says the Lord.

6 Let not the swift flee, let not the hero escape: toward the north, by the bank of the Euphrates River, they stumbled and fell.

7 Who is this that comes up like the Nile, and whose waters surge like the rivers?

8 Egypt comes up like the Nile, and its waters surge like the rivers; he said, “I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.”

9 Mount on, you horses, and thunder, you chariots! Let the mighty men go forth: the Ethiopians and the men of Put who take up the shield, and the Lydians who take up and bend the bow.

10 For this day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his adversaries; and the sword shall devour, and be satiated, and drunken with their blood; For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice in the land of the north, by the river Euphrates.

11 Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt; in vain you multiply remedies; there is no cure for you.

12 The nations have heard of your shame, and the land is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled over the mighty man, and both have fallen together.

13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt.

14 Declare in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it also in Noph and in Tacpenes; say, “Present yourself and prepare yourself, for the sword has devoured all around you.”

15 Why have your mighty men been overthrown? They could not stand, for the Lord has struck them down.

16 He multiplied those who stumbled; they fell one upon another, and said, “Rise up, and let us return to our people and to the land of our birth, because of the sword that oppresses.”

17 They cried out there, “Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a sound; he has let the appointed time pass.”

18 “As I live,” says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts, “surely, as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, so he will come.”

19 “Prepare to go into captivity, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt; for Noph shall be made desolate, and shall be burned, until no one dwells there anymore.”

20 Egypt is a very beautiful heifer, but destruction is coming from the north.

21 Even her mercenaries in the midst of her are like fattened calves; but they too have turned their backs, they have fled together; they have not stood firm; For the day of their ruin has come upon them, and the time of their visitation.

22 Their voice will be like that of a serpent; for they will march with an army, and they will come against her with axes, like woodcutters.

23 They have cut down her forest, says the Lord, which was impenetrable; for they have multiplied more than locusts; they are innumerable.

24 The daughter of Egypt is ashamed; she has been given into the hand of the people of the north.

25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and its gods, and its kings; Pharaoh himself, and those who trust in him.

26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; but afterward she shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the Lord.

27 Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, Israel; for behold, I will deliver you from afar, and your descendants from the land of their captivity; Jacob shall return and have rest and be at ease, and no one shall make him afraid.

28 Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, declares the Lord, for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you. I will discipline you in measure, and I will not leave you completely unpunished.