“Who is this coming up (A)like a flood,
Whose waters move like the rivers?
Egypt rises up like a flood,
And its waters move like the rivers;
And he says, ‘I will go up and cover the earth,
I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.’
Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots!
And let the mighty men come forth:
[a]The Ethiopians and [b]the Libyans who handle the shield,
And the Lydians (B)who handle and bend the bow.
10 For this is (C)the day of the Lord God of hosts,
A day of vengeance,
That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.
(D)The sword shall devour;
It shall be [c]satiated and made drunk with their blood;
For the Lord God of hosts (E)has a sacrifice
In the north country by the River Euphrates.

11 “Go(F) up to Gilead and take balm,
(G)O virgin, the daughter of Egypt;
In vain you will use many medicines;
(H)You shall not be cured.
12 The nations have heard of your (I)shame,
And your cry has filled the land;
For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty;
They both have fallen together.”

Babylonia Will Strike Egypt

13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would come and (J)strike the land of Egypt.

14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in (K)Migdol;
Proclaim in [d]Noph and in (L)Tahpanhes;
Say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves,
For the sword devours all around you.’
15 Why are your valiant men swept away?
They did not stand
Because the Lord drove them away.
16 He made many fall;
Yes, (M)one fell upon another.
And they said, ‘Arise!
(N)Let us go back to our own people
And to the land of our nativity
From the oppressing sword.’
17 They cried there,
‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise.
He has passed by the appointed time!’

18 As I live,” says the King,
(O)Whose name is the Lord of hosts,
“Surely as Tabor is among the mountains
And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.
19 O (P)you daughter dwelling in Egypt,
Prepare yourself (Q)to go into captivity!
For [e]Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.

20 “Egypt is a very pretty (R)heifer,
But destruction comes, it comes (S)from the north.
21 Also her mercenaries are in her midst like [f]fat bulls,
For they also are turned back,
They have fled away together.
They did not stand,
For (T)the day of their calamity had come upon them,
The time of their punishment.
22 (U)Her noise shall go like a serpent,
For they shall march with an army
And come against her with axes,
Like those who chop wood.

23 “They shall (V)cut down her forest,” says the Lord,
“Though it cannot be searched,
Because they are innumerable,
And more numerous than (W)grasshoppers.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;
She shall be delivered into the hand
Of (X)the people of the north.”

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring punishment on [g]Amon of (Y)No,[h] and Pharaoh and Egypt, (Z)with their gods and their kings—Pharaoh and those who (AA)trust in him. 26 (AB)And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of his servants. (AC)Afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 46:9 Heb. Cush
  2. Jeremiah 46:9 Heb. Put
  3. Jeremiah 46:10 Filled to the full
  4. Jeremiah 46:14 Ancient Memphis
  5. Jeremiah 46:19 Ancient Memphis
  6. Jeremiah 46:21 Lit. calves of the stall
  7. Jeremiah 46:25 A sun god
  8. Jeremiah 46:25 Ancient Thebes

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