Judgment on Egypt
That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
Concerning Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
Array buckler and shield, and draw near to war!
Harness the horses; mount, you horsemen; take your stand in helmets! Polish the spears, put on the armor!
Why have I seen them shattered, turning back? And their mighty ones are beaten down; they have fled in flight and have not turned around — terror all around! — the utterance of the LORD.
Let the swift not flee, and let the mighty not escape. Northward, by the hand of the river Euphrates, they have stumbled and fallen.
Who is this that rises like the Nile, whose waters toss like the rivers?
Egypt rises like the Nile, and like the rivers the waters toss; and he said: I will rise, I will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and those dwelling in her.
Go up, horses; and drive madly, chariots; and let the mighty men go out — Cush and Put, handlers of the shield, and the Ludim, handlers and benders of the bow.
And that day belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, to take vengeance on his adversaries. And the sword will devour and be satisfied and be soaked with their blood; for the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice in the land of the north, by the river Euphrates.
Go up to Gilead and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. In vain you have multiplied remedies; there is no mending for you.
The nations have heard your dishonor, and your outcry has filled the earth; for mighty one has stumbled against mighty one, and together the two of them have fallen.
The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, about the coming of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
Declare in Egypt, and make it heard in Migdol, and make it heard in Noph and in Tahpanhes. Say: Take your stand and prepare yourself, for the sword has devoured all around you.
Why has your mighty one been swept away? He did not stand, for the LORD thrust him down.
He made many stumble; each also fell against his neighbor. And they said: Arise, and let us return to our own people and to the land of our birth, before the ravaging sword.
They called there: Pharaoh king of Egypt is a din; he has let the appointed time pass by.
As I live — the utterance of the King, the LORD of hosts is his name — surely like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea, so he will come.
Make yourself vessels for exile, dweller, daughter of Egypt; for Noph will become a horror, burned without inhabitant.
A very beautiful heifer is Egypt — a gadfly from the north has come, has come.
Also her hirelings in her midst are like calves of the stall; for they too have turned back, they have fled together, they have not stood. For the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their attending.
Her voice goes like a serpent, for they march with an army; and with axes they come against her, like hewers of wood.
They have cut down her forest — the utterance of the LORD — though it cannot be searched out; for they are more than locusts, and there is no number to them.
The daughter of Egypt is put to shame; she is given into the hand of the people of the north.
The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: See, I am attending to Amon of No, and to Pharaoh and to Egypt and to her gods and to her kings — and to Pharaoh and to those trusting in him.
And I will give them into the hand of those who seek their soul, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. And afterward she will be inhabited as in the days of old — the utterance of the LORD.
And you — do not fear, my servant Jacob, and do not be shattered, Israel; for see, I am saving you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and be quiet and at ease, with none making him afraid.
You — do not fear, my servant Jacob — the utterance of the LORD — for I am with you. Though I make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, of you I will not make a full end; but I will discipline you for judgment, and I will surely not hold you innocent.