Concerning the nations

146.1: Is 19; Ezek 29–32; Zech 14.18-19.The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Eu-phra'tes at Car'chemish and which Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoi'akim the son of Josi'ah, king of Judah:

3“Prepare buckler and shield,

and advance for battle!

4Harness the horses;

mount, O horsemen!

Take your stations with your helmets,

polish your spears,

put on your coats of mail!

546.5: Ps 31.13; Jer 6.25; 20.3, 10; 49.29.Why have I seen it?

They are dismayed

and have turned backward.

Their warriors are beaten down,

and have fled in haste;

they look not back —

terror on every side!

says the LORD.

6The swift cannot flee away,

nor the warrior escape;

in the north by the river Eu-phra'tes

they have stumbled and fallen.

7“Who is this, rising like the Nile,

like rivers whose waters surge?

8Egypt rises like the Nile,

like rivers whose waters surge.

He said, I will rise, I will cover the earth,

I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.

9Advance, O horses,

and rage, O chariots!

Let the warriors go forth:

men of Ethiopia and Put who handle the shield,

men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.

10That day is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts,

a day of vengeance,

to avenge himself on his foes.

The sword shall devour and be sated,

and drink its fill of their blood.

For the Lord GOD of hosts holds a sacrifice

in the north country by the river Eu-phra'tes.

11Go up to Gilead, and take balm,

O virgin daughter of Egypt!

In vain you have used many medicines;

there is no healing for you.

12The nations have heard of your shame,

and the earth is full of your cry;

for warrior has stumbled against warrior;

they have both fallen together.”

13The word which the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt:

14“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol;

proclaim in Memphis and Tah'panhes;

Say, ‘Stand ready and be prepared,

for the sword shall devour round about you.’

15Why has Apis fled?46.15 Gk: Heb Why was it swept away

Why did not your bull stand?

Because the LORD thrust him down.

16Your multitude stumbled46.16 Gk: Heb He made many stumble and fell,

and they said one to another,

‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people

and to the land of our birth,

because of the sword of the oppressor.’

17Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,

‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

18“As I live, says the King,

whose name is the LORD of hosts,

like Tabor among the mountains,

and like Carmel by the sea, shall one come.

19Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,

O inhabitants of Egypt!

For Memphis shall become a waste,

a ruin, without inhabitant.

20“A beautiful heifer is Egypt,

but a gadfly from the north has come upon her.

21Even her hired soldiers in her midst

are like fatted calves;

yea, they have turned and fled together,

they did not stand;

for the day of their calamity has come upon them,

the time of their punishment.

22“She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away;

for her enemies march in force,

and come against her with axes,

like those who fell trees.

23They shall cut down her forest,

says the LORD,

though it is impenetrable,

because they are more numerous than locusts;

they are without number.

24The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame,

she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.”

25The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the LORD.

27“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,

nor be dismayed, O Israel;

for lo, I will save you from afar,

and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

and none shall make him afraid.

28Fear not, O Jacob my servant,

says the LORD,

for I am with you.

I will make a full end of all the nations

to which I have driven you,

but of you I will not make a full end.

I will chasten you in just measure,

and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”