Judgment on Egypt

1This is the word of the LORD about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet 2concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:

3“Deploy your shields, small and large;

advance for battle!

4Harness the horses; mount the steeds;

take your positions with helmets on!

Polish your spears;

put on armor!

5Why am I seeing this?

They are terrified,

they are retreating;

their warriors are defeated,

they flee in haste without looking back;

terror is on every side!”

declares the LORD.

6“The swift cannot flee,

and the warrior cannot escape!

In the north by the River Euphrates

they stumble and fall.

7Who is this, rising like the Nile,

like rivers whose waters churn?

8Egypt rises like the Nile,

and its waters churn like rivers,

boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;

I will destroy the cities and their people.’

9Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots!

Let the warriors come forth—

Cusha and Put carrying their shields,

men of Lydia drawing the bow.

10For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts,

a day of vengeance against His foes.

The sword will devour until it is satisfied,

until it is quenched with their blood.

For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice

in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

11Go up to Gilead for balm,

O Virgin Daughter of Egypt!

In vain you try many remedies,

but for you there is no healing.

12The nations have heard of your shame,

and your outcry fills the earth,

because warrior stumbles over warrior

and both of them have fallen together.”

13This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

14“Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;

proclaim it in Memphisb and Tahpanhes:

‘Take your positions and prepare yourself,

for the sword devours those around you.’

15Why have your warriors been laid low?

They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.

16They continue to stumble;

indeed, they have fallen over one another.

They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people

and to the land of our birth,

away from the sword of the oppressor.’

17There they will cry out:

‘Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise;

he has let the appointed time pass him by.’

18As surely as I live, declares the King,

whose name is the LORD of Hosts,

there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains

and like Carmel by the sea.

19Pack your bags for exile,

O daughter dwelling in Egypt!

For Memphis will be laid waste,

destroyed and uninhabited.

20Egypt is a beautiful heifer,

but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.

21Even the mercenaries among her

are like fattened calves.

They too will turn back;

together they will flee, they will not stand their ground,

for the day of calamity is coming upon them—

the time of their punishment.

22Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent,c

for the enemy will advance in force;

with axes they will come against her

like woodsmen cutting down trees.

23They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD,

dense though it may be,

for they are more numerous than locusts;

they cannot be counted.

24The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame;

she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”

25The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I am about to punish Amon god of Thebes,d along with Pharaoh, Egypt with her gods and kings, and those who trust in Pharaoh. 26I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives—of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.

27But you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid,

and do not be dismayed, O Israel.

For I will surely save you out of a distant place,

your descendants from the land of their captivity!

Jacob will return to quiet and ease,

with no one to make him afraid.

28And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid,

declares the LORD, for I am with you.

Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you,

I will not completely destroy you.

Yet I will discipline you justly,

and will by no means leave you unpunished.”