Jeremiah 46
Legacy Standard Bible
Word Against Egypt
46 That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet (A)concerning the nations.
2 To (B)Egypt, concerning the military force of (C)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at (D)Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down in the (E)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3 “(F)Arrange the shield and large shield,
And draw near for the battle!
4 Harness the horses,
And [a]mount the steeds,
And take your stand with helmets on!
(G)Polish the spears,
Put on the (H)scale-armor!
5 Why have I seen it?
They are shattered;
They are (I)drawing back,
And their (J)mighty men are crushed
And have fled to refuge,
Without facing back;
[b](K)Terror is on every side!”
Declares Yahweh.
6 Let not the (L)swift man flee,
Nor the mighty man escape;
In the north beside the river Euphrates
They have (M)stumbled and fallen.
7 Who is this that (N)rises like the Nile,
Like the rivers whose waters toss about?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
Even like the rivers whose waters toss about;
And He has said, “I will (O)rise and cover that land;
I will surely (P)cause the city to perish, as well as its inhabitants.”
9 Go up, you horses, and [c](Q)drive madly, you chariots,
That the mighty men may go forth:
[d]Ethiopia and [e](R)Put, who seize the shield,
And the [f](S)Lydians, who seize and bend the bow.
10 Indeed, (T)that day belongs to Lord Yahweh of hosts,
A day of (U)vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His adversaries;
And the (V)sword will devour and be satiated
And [g]drink its fill of their blood;
For there will be a (W)sacrifice to Lord Yahweh of hosts
In the land of the north by the river Euphrates.
11 Go (X)up to Gilead and obtain balm,
(Y)O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain have you multiplied [h]remedies;
There is (Z)no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your (AA)disgrace,
And the earth is full of your (AB)outcry;
For one (AC)warrior has stumbled over [i]another,
And both of them have fallen down together.
13 This is the [j]message which Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the (AD)coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to (AE)strike down the land of Egypt:
14 “Declare in Egypt and cause it to be heard in (AF)Migdol;
Cause it to be heard also in Memphis and (AG)Tahpanhes;
Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,
For the (AH)sword has devoured those around you.’
15 Why are your (AI)mighty ones thrown down?
They do not stand because Yahweh has (AJ)thrust them down.
16 They have repeatedly (AK)stumbled;
Indeed, they have fallen one against another.
Then they said, ‘Rise up! And (AL)let us return
To our own people and land of our birth
Away from the [k](AM)sword of the oppressor.’
17 [l]They called out there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but (AN)a rumbling;
He has let the appointed time pass by!’
18 As I live,” declares the (AO)King
Whose name is Yahweh of hosts,
“Surely one shall come who looms up like (AP)Tabor among the mountains,
Or like (AQ)Carmel by the sea.
19 Make your baggage ready for (AR)exile,
O inhabitant of the (AS)daughter of Egypt,
For (AT)Memphis will become a desolation;
It will even be turned into ruin and without inhabitants.
20 Egypt is a pretty (AU)heifer,
But a [m]horsefly is coming (AV)from the north—it is coming!
21 Also her (AW)mercenaries in her midst
Are like [n]fattened (AX)calves,
For even they have turned back and have fled away together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their disaster has come upon them,
The time of their (AY)punishment.
22 Its sound moves along like a serpent;
For they move on [o]like a military force
And come to her as woodcutters with axes.
23 They have cut down her (AZ)forest,” declares Yahweh;
“Surely it will no longer be searched out,
Even though [p]they are now more numerous than (BA)locusts
And are without number.
24 The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,
Given over to the hand of the (BB)people of the north.”
25 Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of (BC)Thebes, and (BD)Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her (BE)gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who (BF)trust in him. 26 I shall give them into the hand of those who are (BG)seeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. (BH)Afterwards, however, it will be dwelt in like in the days of old,” declares Yahweh.
27 “But as for you, O Jacob My servant, (BI)do not fear,
Nor be dismayed, O Israel!
For behold, I am going to (BJ)save you from afar,
And your seed from the land of their captivity;
And Jacob will return and have (BK)quiet
And be at ease, with no one making him tremble.
28 O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares Yahweh,
“For (BL)I am with you.
For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations
Where I have banished you,
Yet I will (BM)not make a complete destruction of you;
But I will (BN)discipline you with justice
And by no means leave you unpunished.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 46:4 Or go up, you horsemen
- Jeremiah 46:5 Heb Magor-missabib
- Jeremiah 46:9 Lit act like madmen
- Jeremiah 46:9 Or Cush, cf. Gen 10:6
- Jeremiah 46:9 Libya (or Somaliland)
- Jeremiah 46:9 Heb Ludim
- Jeremiah 46:10 Lit be saturated with
- Jeremiah 46:11 Lit healings
- Jeremiah 46:12 Lit warrior
- Jeremiah 46:13 Lit word
- Jeremiah 46:16 Lit oppressing sword
- Jeremiah 46:17 Some ancient versions Call the name of Pharaoh a rumbling
- Jeremiah 46:20 Or possibly mosquito
- Jeremiah 46:21 Lit of the stall
- Jeremiah 46:22 Or in force
- Jeremiah 46:23 Trees of the forest, the Egyptians
Jeremiah 46
New Living Translation
Messages for the Nations
46 The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the Lord concerning foreign nations.
Messages about Egypt
2 This message concerning Egypt was given in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, on the occasion of the battle of Carchemish[a] when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, and his army were defeated beside the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar[b] of Babylon.
3 “Prepare your shields,
and advance into battle!
4 Harness the horses,
and mount the stallions.
Take your positions.
Put on your helmets.
Sharpen your spears,
and prepare your armor.
5 But what do I see?
The Egyptian army flees in terror.
The bravest of its fighting men run
without a backward glance.
They are terrorized at every turn,”
says the Lord.
6 “The swiftest runners cannot flee;
the mightiest warriors cannot escape.
By the Euphrates River to the north,
they stumble and fall.
7 “Who is this, rising like the Nile at floodtime,
overflowing all the land?
8 It is the Egyptian army,
overflowing all the land,
boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood,
destroying cities and their people.
9 Charge, you horses and chariots;
attack, you mighty warriors of Egypt!
Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia[c]
who are skilled with the shield and bow!
10 For this is the day of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
a day of vengeance on his enemies.
The sword will devour until it is satisfied,
yes, until it is drunk with your blood!
The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will receive a sacrifice today
in the north country beside the Euphrates River.
11 “Go up to Gilead to get medicine,
O virgin daughter of Egypt!
But your many treatments
will bring you no healing.
12 The nations have heard of your shame.
The earth is filled with your cries of despair.
Your mightiest warriors will run into each other
and fall down together.”
13 Then the Lord gave the prophet Jeremiah this message about King Nebuchadnezzar’s plans to attack Egypt.
14 “Shout it out in Egypt!
Publish it in the cities of Migdol, Memphis,[d] and Tahpanhes!
Mobilize for battle,
for the sword will devour everyone around you.
15 Why have your warriors fallen?
They cannot stand, for the Lord has knocked them down.
16 They stumble and fall over each other
and say among themselves,
‘Come, let’s go back to our people,
to the land of our birth.
Let’s get away from the sword of the enemy!’
17 There they will say,
‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth
who missed his opportunity!’
18 “As surely as I live,” says the King,
whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
“one is coming against Egypt
who is as tall as Mount Tabor,
or as Mount Carmel by the sea!
19 Pack up! Get ready to leave for exile,
you citizens of Egypt!
The city of Memphis will be destroyed,
without a single inhabitant.
20 Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer,
but a horsefly from the north is on its way!
21 Egypt’s mercenaries have become like fattened calves.
They, too, will turn and run,
for it is a day of great disaster for Egypt,
a time of great punishment.
22 Egypt flees, silent as a serpent gliding away.
The invading army marches in;
they come against her with axes like woodsmen.
23 They will cut down her people like trees,” says the Lord,
“for they are more numerous than locusts.
24 Egypt will be humiliated;
she will be handed over to people from the north.”
25 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes,[e] and all the other gods of Egypt. I will punish its rulers and Pharaoh, too, and all who trust in him. 26 I will hand them over to those who want them killed—to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. But afterward the land will recover from the ravages of war. I, the Lord, have spoken!
27 “But do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant;
do not be dismayed, Israel.
For I will bring you home again from distant lands,
and your children will return from their exile.
Israel[f] will return to a life of peace and quiet,
and no one will terrorize them.
28 Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant,
for I am with you,” says the Lord.
“I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you,
but I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you, but with justice;
I cannot let you go unpunished.”
Footnotes
- 46:2a This event occurred in 605 B.c., during the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign (according to the calendar system in which the new year begins in the spring).
- 46:2b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 46:13, 26.
- 46:9 Hebrew from Cush, Put, and Lud.
- 46:14 Hebrew Noph; also in 46:19.
- 46:25 Hebrew of No.
- 46:27 Hebrew Jacob. See note on 5:20.
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