Jeremiah 46 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Judgment on Egypt

Jer 46:1The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

Jer 46:2About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

Jer 46:3

Jer 46:3“Prepare buckler and shield,
and advance for battle!

Jer 46:4

Jer 46:4Harness the horses;
mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
polish your spears,
put on your armor!

Jer 46:5

Jer 46:5Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
and have turned backward.
Their warriors are beaten down
and have fled in haste;
they look not back—
terror on every side!
declares the LORD.

Jer 46:6

Jer 46:6“The swift cannot flee away,
nor the warrior escape;
in the north by the river Euphrates
they have stumbled and fallen.

Jer 46:7

Jer 46:7“Who is this, rising like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge?

Jer 46:8

Jer 46:8Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’

Jer 46:9

Jer 46:9Advance, O horses,
and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
men of Cush and Put who handle the shield,
men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.

Jer 46:10

Jer 46:10That day is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts,
a day of vengeance,
to avenge himself on his foes.
The sword shall devour and be sated
and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord GOD of hosts holds a sacrifice
in the north country by the river Euphrates.

Jer 46:11

Jer 46:11Go up to Gilead, and take balm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
there is no healing for you.

Jer 46:12

Jer 46:12The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
they have both fallen together.”

Jer 46:13

Jer 46:13The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

Jer 46:14

Jer 46:14“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol;
proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes;
say, ‘Stand ready and be prepared,
for the sword shall devour around you.’

Jer 46:15

Jer 46:15Why are your mighty ones face down?
They do not stand[fn]
because the LORD thrust them down.

Jer 46:16

Jer 46:16He made many stumble, and they fell,
and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
and to the land of our birth,
because of the sword of the oppressor.’

Jer 46:17

Jer 46:17Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

Jer 46:18

Jer 46:18“As I live, declares the King,
whose name is the LORD of hosts,
like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea, shall one come.

Jer 46:19

Jer 46:19Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
O inhabitants of Egypt!
For Memphis shall become a waste,
a ruin, without inhabitant.

Jer 46:20

Jer 46:20“A beautiful heifer is Egypt,
but a biting fly from the north has come upon her.

Jer 46:21

Jer 46:21Even her hired soldiers in her midst
are like fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
the time of their punishment.

Jer 46:22

Jer 46:22“She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away;
for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
like those who fell trees.

Jer 46:23

Jer 46:23They shall cut down her forest,
declares the LORD,
though it is impenetrable,
because they are more numerous than locusts;
they are without number.

Jer 46:24

Jer 46:24The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.”

Jer 46:25

Jer 46:25The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him.

Jer 46:26

Jer 46:26I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the LORD.

(cf. Jer 30:10, 11 )

Jer 46:27

Jer 46:27“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.

Jer 46:28

Jer 46:28Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the LORD,
for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
to which I have driven you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

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ESV Footnotes

(46:15)

Hebrew He does not stand

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