Jeremiah 46
46
The Lord speaks about the nations
1The LORD often told me what to say about the different nations of the world.
What the LORD says about Egypt
2In the fourth year that Jehoiakim#46.2 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3. was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar#46.2 King Nebuchadnezzar: Ruled 605-562 BC. At the time of the battle in 605 BC, he was crown prince, but his father died a few months later, and he became king. of Babylonia defeated King Neco of Egypt#46.2 King Neco of Egypt: Neco II, ruled 609-594 BC. in a battle at the city of Carchemish near the River Euphrates. And here is what the LORD told me to say about the Egyptian army:#Is 19.1-25; Ez 29.1—32.32.
3It's time to go into battle!
So grab your shields,
4saddle your horses,
and polish your spears.
Put on your helmets and armour,
then take your positions.
5I can see the battle now—
you are defeated
and running away,
never once looking back.
Terror is all around.
6You are strong and run fast,
but you can't escape.
You fall in battle
near the River Euphrates.
7What nation is this,
that rises like the River Nile
overflowing its banks?
8It is Egypt, rising with a roar
like a raging river
and saying,
“I'll flood the earth,
destroying cities, and killing
everyone in them.”
9Go ahead, Egypt.
Tell your chariots and cavalry
to attack and fight hard.
Order your troops to march out,
with Ethiopians#46.9 Ethiopians: See the note at 38.7,8. and Libyans
carrying shields,
and the Lydians#46.9 Lydians: Probably hired soldiers from Lydia, an area in west-central Asia minor. armed with bows
and arrows.
10But the LORD All-Powerful
will win this battle
and take revenge
on his enemies.
His sword will eat them
and drink their blood
until it is full.
They will be killed in the north
near the River Euphrates,
as a sacrifice to the LORD.
11Egypt, no medicine can heal you,
not even the soothing lotion
from Gilead.
12All nations have heard you weep;
you are disgraced,
and they know it.
Your troops fall to the ground,
stumbling over each other.
A warning for Egypt
13-14When King Nebuchadnezzar#46.13,14 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. of Babylonia was on his way to attack Egypt, the LORD sent me with a warning for every Egyptian town, but especially for Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. He said I must tell them:#Jr 43.10-13.
Prepare to defend yourselves!
Everywhere in your nation,
people are dying in war.
15I have struck down
your mighty god Apis#46.15 Apis: A sacred bull, kept in a temple at Memphis, Egypt, and worshipped as a god.
and chased him away.#46.15 I have…him away: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
16Your soldiers stumble
over each other
and say, “Get up!
The enemy will kill us,
unless we can escape
to our own land.”
17Give the king of Egypt
this new name,
“Talks-Big-Does-Nothing”.
18Egypt, I am the true king,
the LORD All-Powerful,
and as surely as I live,
those enemies who attack
will tower over you
like Mount Tabor among the hills
or Mount Carmel by the sea.
19You will be led away captive,
so pack a few things
to bring with you.
Your capital, Memphis,
will lie empty and in ruins.
20An enemy from the north
will attack you, beautiful Egypt,
like a fly biting a cow.
21The foreign soldiers you hired
will turn and run.
But they are doomed,
like well-fed calves
being led to the butcher.
22-23The enemy army will go forward
like a swarm of locusts.#46.22,23 locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to plant life.
Your troops will feel helpless,
like a snake in a forest
when men with axes
start chopping down trees.
It can only hiss
and try to escape.
24Your people will be disgraced
and captured by the enemy
from the north.
25I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel. Soon I will punish the god Amon of Thebes#46.25 the god Amon of Thebes: Amon was the king of the Egyptian gods and was the special god of the Egyptian kings. and the other Egyptian gods, the Egyptian kings, the people of Egypt, and everyone who trusts in the Egyptian power. 26I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar and his army. But I also promise that Egypt will some day have people living here again, just as it had before. I, the LORD, have spoken.
The LORD will bring Israel home
The LORD said:
27Israel,#46.27 Israel: See the note at 30.10,11. don't be afraid.#Jr 30.10,11.
Some day I will bring you home
from foreign lands.
You and your descendants
will live in peace and safety,
with nothing to fear.
28So don't be afraid,
even though now
you deserve to be punished
and have been scattered
among other nations.
But when I destroy them,
I will protect you.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jeremiah 46
46
1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles,
2 about Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, which was beside the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, struck down, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah:
3 " 'Prepare the heavy and the light shield, and advance to war!
4 Harness the horses, and let the horsemen climb upon them! Stand forth with helmets! Sharpen the lances! Clothe yourselves in armor!'
5 And what is next? I have seen them terrified, and turning their backs, their strong ones cut down. They have fled in disorder and have not looked back. Terror on every side, says the Lord.
6 Let not the swift take flight; let not the strong ones think to save themselves. They have been conquered and ruined, toward the north, near the river Euphrates.
7 Who is this, who ascends like a flood, and whose streams swell up, like those of the rivers?
8 Egypt ascends in the form of a river, and its waves will be moved like those of a river. And he will say: 'I will ascend and cover the earth! I will perish the city and its inhabitants!'
9 Mount the horses, and exult upon chariots, and let the strong ones advance: the Ethiopians, and the Libyans, who hold the heavy shield, and the Lydians, who grasp and shoot arrows.
10 For this is the day of the Lord, the God of hosts, a day of vengeance, so that he may vindicate himself of his enemies. The sword will devour, and be satiated, and be inebriated with their blood. For there is a victim of the Lord, the God of hosts, in the land of the north, beside the river Euphrates.
11 Ascend to Gilead, and take its balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! It is in vain that you multiply medicines; there will be no health for you!
12 The nations have heard of your disgrace, and your wailing has filled the earth. For the strong have stumbled against the strong, and both have fallen together."
13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, concerning how Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, would arrive and strike the land of Egypt:
14 "Announce it to Egypt, and make it heard in Migdol, and let it resonate in Memphis and in Tahpanhes. Say this: Stand and prepare yourself! For the sword will devour everything around you.
15 Why have your strong ones decayed? They have not stood firm, because the Lord has overthrown them.
16 He has multiplied those in ruin, and each man has fallen beside his neighbor. And they will say: 'Rise up, and let us return to our own people and to the land of our nativity, away from the face of the sword of the dove.
17 Call the name of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt: 'Time has brought tumult.'
18 As I live, says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts, just as Tabor is among the mountains, and just as Carmel is beside the sea, so will he come.
19 Equip yourself for the transmigration, O daughter who inhabitants Egypt. For Memphis will be in desolation, and it will be deserted and uninhabited.
20 Egypt is like a stately and finely-formed calf. The one who will goad her will come from the north.
21 Her hired hands also, who move within her midst, like fatted calves have been turned back, and they have fled at the same time, and they are not able to stand firm. For the day of their passing away has overwhelmed them; it is the time of their visitation.
22 Her voice will sound out like brass. For they will rush forward with an army, and with axes they will come against her, like those who chop wood.
23 They have cut down her forest, says the Lord, which was not able to be counted. They have been multiplied more than locusts, and they are without number.
24 The daughter of Egypt has been confounded, and she has been delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: Behold, I will visit against the tumult of Alexandria, and against Pharaoh, and against Egypt, and against her gods, and against her kings, and against Pharaoh, and against those who trust in him.
26 And I will give them over to the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And after this, it shall be inhabited, just as in the former days, says the Lord.
27 And as for you, my servant Jacob, you should not be afraid, and you should not dread, O Israel. For behold, I will bring your salvation from afar, and your offspring from the land of your captivity. And Jacob will return and have rest, and he will prosper. And there will be no one who may terrify him.
28 And as for you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid, says the Lord. For I am with you. For I will consume all the nations to which I have cast you out. Yet truly, I will not consume you. Instead, I will chastise you in judgment, but neither will I spare you, as if you were innocent."
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