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Messages for the Nations

46 The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the Lord concerning foreign nations.

Messages about Egypt

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.

“Prepare your shields,
    and advance into battle!
Harness the horses,
    and mount the stallions.
Take your positions.
    Put on your helmets.
Sharpen your spears,
    and prepare your armor.
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.
“The swiftest runners cannot flee;
    the mightiest warriors cannot escape.
By the Euphrates River to the north,
    they stumble and fall.

“Who is this, rising like the Nile at floodtime,
    overflowing all the land?
It is the Egyptian army,
    overflowing all the land,
boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood,
    destroying cities and their people.
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.”

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Footnotes

  1. 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).
  2. 46:2b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 46:13, 26.
  3. 46:9 Hebrew from Cush, Put, and Lud.

Messages Concerning Egypt

46 The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. Concerning Egypt: Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah.

“Prepare small shield and shield,
    and approach for the battle!
Harness the horses and mount the steeds!
    And take your stand with helmets!
Polish the spears!
    Put on the body armor!
Why do I see them terrified?
    They are turning back
and their warriors are beaten down.
    And they have fled to a place of refuge
and they do not turn back.
    Terror is from all around,” declares[a] Yahweh.
The swift cannot flee,
    and the warrior cannot escape.
They have stumbled and they have fallen,
    by the bank of the Euphrates River.
Who is this that rises like the Nile,
    like the rivers whose waters surge?
Egypt rises like the Nile,
    even like the rivers whose waters surge.
And he says, “Let me rise,
    let me cover the earth,
let me destroy cities,
    and the inhabitants in them.”
Go up, O horses,
    and drive madly, O chariots,[b]
and let the warriors go forth;
    Cush and Put, who wield the small shield,
    and Lud, who wield and bend the bow.
10 For that day is to the Lord Yahweh of hosts
    a day of retribution,
    to take revenge on his foes.
And the sword will devour and be satisfied,
    and it will drink its fill of their blood,
for a sacrifice is for the Lord Yahweh of hosts
    in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.
11 Go up to Gilead and take balm,
    O virgin of the daughter of Egypt.
In vain[c] you make use of many medicines;
    there is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard your shame,
    and your cry of lament fills the earth.
For warrior has stumbled against warrior,
    together they have fallen, the two of them.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 46:5 Literally “a declaration of”
  2. Jeremiah 46:9 Hebrew “chariot”
  3. Jeremiah 46:11 Literally “To the vanity”