Judgment On Egypt
Jeremiah 46The word of YHWH that to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
“Y’all must arrange the shields small and large, and draw near to battle! Y’all must harness the horses, and mount the steeds, Y’all must take positions with your helmets, polish the spears, and put on the coats of mail. Why have I seen it? They are terrified and are retreating. Their warriors are beaten down, have fled in haste, and don’t look back. Terror is on every side,” says YHWH. “The swift cannot flee away, and the strongest cannot escape. In the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen.“Who is this who rises up like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge? Egypt rises up like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. Egypt says, ‘I will rise up and cover the earth. I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’ Y’all charge, calvary! Y’all rage, chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow. For that day is of the Lord, YHWH Almighty, a day of vengeance, that ʜᴇ may avenge himself of his adversaries. The sword will devour and be satiated, and will drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, YHWH Almighty, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. You use many medicines in vain. There is no healing for you. The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they both fall together.”
The word that YHWH spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt:
“Y’all declare in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol, and proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes; Y’all are to say, ‘You must take a stand and prepare, for the sword has devoured those around you.’ Why have your warriors been swept away? They cannot stand, because YHWH pushed them. Hᴇ made many to stumble. Yes, they fell on one another. They said, ‘Get up! Let’s go back to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.’ They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise, he has let the appointed time pass by.’“As I live,” says the King, whose name is YHWH Almighty, “surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so he will come. You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis will become a desolation, and will be burned up, without inhabitant.
“Egypt is a very beautiful heifer, but destruction out of the north has come. It has come. Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall, for they also are turned back. They have fled away together. They didn’t stand, for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation. Its sound will go like the serpent, for they will march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters. They will cut down her forest,” says YHWH, “though it can’t be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed; she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.”
YHWH Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him. I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says YHWH.
“But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant. Don’t be dismayed, Israel; for, I will surely save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid. Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says YHWH, “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”