Chapter 46

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

Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote⁵² in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

Order³ ye the buckler and shield, and draw near³ to battle.

Harness³ the horses; and get up,³ ye horsemen, and stand forth¹⁰⁰ with [your] helmets; furbish³ the spears, [and] put on³ the brigandines.

Wherefore have I seen¹ them dismayed [and] turned away¹² back? and their mighty ones are beaten down,⁹³ and are fled¹ apace, and look not back:⁵² [for] fear [was] round about, saith⁷ the LORD.

Let not the swift flee away,⁴ nor the mighty man escape;¹¹ they shall stumble,¹ and fall¹ toward the north by the river Euphrates.

Who [is] this [that] cometh up⁴ as a flood, whose waters are moved¹⁰¹ as the rivers?

Egypt riseth up⁴ like a flood, and [his] waters are moved¹⁰⁸ like the rivers; and he saith,⁴ I will go up,⁴ [and] will cover¹⁷ the earth; I will destroy⁵⁵ the city and the inhabitants⁶ thereof.

Come up,³ ye horses; and rage,¹⁰⁷ ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth;⁴ the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle⁶ the shield; and the Lydians, that handle⁶ [and] bend⁶ the bow.

For this [is] the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge⁹ him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour,¹ and it shall be satiate¹ and made drunk¹ with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

Go up³ into Gilead, and take³ balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many⁵² medicines; [for] thou shalt not be cured.

The nations have heard¹ of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled¹ the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled¹ against the mighty, [and] they are fallen¹ both together.

The word that the LORD spake¹⁴ to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come² [and] smite⁵³ the land of Egypt.

Declare⁵⁴ ye in Egypt, and publish⁵⁴ in Migdol, and publish⁵⁴ in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say³ ye, Stand fast,¹⁰⁰ and prepare⁵⁴ thee; for the sword shall devour¹ round about thee.

Why are thy valiant [men] swept away?⁸ they stood¹ not, because the LORD did drive¹ them.

He made many⁵² to fall,⁶ yea, one fell¹ upon another: and they said,⁴ Arise,³ and let us go again⁴ to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing⁶ sword.

They did cry¹ there, Pharaoh king of Egypt [is but] a noise; he hath passed⁵² the time appointed.

[As] I live, saith⁷ 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.⁴

O thou daughter dwelling⁶ in Egypt, furnish³ thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate⁸ without an inhabitant.⁶

Egypt [is like] a very fair heifer, [but] destruction cometh;¹ it cometh¹ out of the north.

Also her hired men [are] in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back,⁵² [and] are fled away¹ together: they did not stand,¹ because the day of their calamity was come¹ upon them, [and] the time of their visitation.

The voice thereof shall go⁴ like a serpent; for they shall march⁴ with an army, and come¹ against her with axes, as hewers⁶ of wood.

They shall cut down¹ her forest, saith⁷ the LORD, though it cannot be searched;¹¹ because they are more¹ than the grasshoppers, and [are] innumerable. ⁴⁵⁵⁷

The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded;⁵² she shall be delivered⁸ into the hand of the people of the north.

The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith;¹ Behold, I will punish⁶ the multitude ⁵²⁸ of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and [all] them that trust⁶ in him:

And I will deliver¹ them into the hand of those that seek¹⁸ their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited,⁴ as in the days of old, saith⁷ the LORD.

But fear⁴ not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed,¹¹ O Israel: for, behold, I will save⁵⁶ thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return,¹ and be in rest¹ and at ease,⁴⁰ and none shall make [him] afraid.⁵⁶

Fear⁴ thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith⁷ the LORD: for I [am] with thee; for I will make⁴ a full end of all the nations whither I have driven⁵² thee: but I will not make⁴ a full end of thee, but correct¹⁴ thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly¹⁵ unpunished.¹⁷