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13 The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt:

14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol,
    and proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes,
say, ‘Take your stand and be prepared,
    for the sword will devour those all around you.’
15 Why are your bulls defeated?
    He did not stand because Yahweh thrust him down.
16 He multiplied the ones[a] stumbling.
    Furthermore, each one fell to his neighbor,
and said, ‘Stand up, and let us return to our people
    and to the land of our birth,
    because of[b] the presence[c] of the sword of the oppressor.’
17 They will call there,
‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt is but a roar,
    he missed the opportunity.’[d]
18 As I live,”[e] declares[f] the king,
    Yahweh of hosts is his name,
“one will come like Tabor among the mountains
    and like Carmel by the sea.
19 Pack your baggage for exile,
    O inhabitants[g] of the daughter of Egypt,
for Memphis will become as a horror,
    and it will be destroyed, without[h] inhabitant.
20 Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
    but a gadfly from the north will come against her.
21 Even her mercenaries in her midst are like calves of fattening,
    for they also have turned away,
    they have fled together.
They stand not,
    for the day of their calamity has come,
    the time of their punishment.
22 Her sound is like a snake that glides away,
    for they march in force.
And with axes they come to her
    like those who chop trees.
23 They will cut down her forest,” declares[i] Yahweh,
    “for it is impenetrable.[j]
Yes, they are more numerous than locusts,[k]
    and they are without number.[l]
24 The daughter of Egypt will be ashamed,
    she will be given into the hand of the people of the north.”

25 Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, said, “Look, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 And I will give them into the hand of the seekers of their lives,[m] and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his troops. But afterward[n] it will be inhabited, as in days of old,” declares[o] Yahweh.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 46:16 Hebrew “one”
  2. Jeremiah 46:16 Literally “from”
  3. Jeremiah 46:16 Literally “face”
  4. Jeremiah 46:17 Literally “he has allowed to pass over the appointed time”
  5. Jeremiah 46:18 Literally “Life I”
  6. Jeremiah 46:18 Literally “a declaration of”
  7. Jeremiah 46:19 Hebrew “inhabitant”
  8. Jeremiah 46:19 Literally “from there is not”
  9. Jeremiah 46:23 Literally “a declaration of”
  10. Jeremiah 46:23 Literally “it cannot be searched out”
  11. Jeremiah 46:23 Hebrew “locust”
  12. Jeremiah 46:23 Literally “there is not to them a number”
  13. Jeremiah 46:26 Hebrew “life”
  14. Jeremiah 46:26 Literally “after thus”
  15. Jeremiah 46:26 Literally “a declaration of”

13 This is the word that the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the military offensive of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar against the land of Egypt:

14 Tell Egypt, warn Migdol,
    alert Memphis and Tahpanhes!
Say: “Brace yourselves for what’s coming.
    War is breaking out from every side!”
15 Why have your mighty fallen?
    Why haven’t they stood their ground?
        Because the Lord has struck them down.
16 He’s tripped them up;
    they fall over each other and say,
    “Let’s get out of here
        and go home to our people,
        where we were born,
        far away from the oppressor’s sword.”[a]
17 There they call Pharaoh, Egypt’s king,
    Loudmouth—Nothing But Hot Air!
18 As I live, declares the king,
    whose name is the Lord of heavenly forces,
one is coming
    just as surely as Tabor is in the mountains
    and Carmel is by the sea.[b]
19 Get what you need for deportation,
    you inhabitants of Egypt.[c]
Memphis will be reduced to a wasteland,
    a ruin with no one left.
20 Egypt is a beautiful, yes, beautiful heifer,
    but a horsefly from the north
        is coming to bite her.[d]
21 Even her mercenaries
    are like well-fed calves;
        they too will retreat and run for cover;
        they won’t survive.
The day of disaster has come to haunt them,
    the time of their punishment.
22 Like the sound of a snake hissing
    as it slithers away
        is Egypt[e] as armies approach in force;
        they come against her with axes,
            like woodcutters.
23 They destroy her dense forest,
    though it is vast,
        because they outnumber locusts
        and can’t be counted,
            declares the Lord.
24 Daughter Egypt will be humiliated,
    handed over to people from the north.

25 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I’m going to punish Amon of Thebes, Egypt and its gods and kings, as well as Pharaoh and all who rely on him. 26 I will hand them over to those who seek to kill them, namely Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his servants. But afterward Egypt will dwell like it did a long time ago, declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 46:16 Heb uncertain
  2. Jeremiah 46:18 Heb uncertain
  3. Jeremiah 46:19 Or inhabitant, Daughter Egypt
  4. Jeremiah 46:20 Heb uncertain
  5. Jeremiah 46:22 Heb lacks is Egypt.