Jeremiah 46

1 In the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah the prophet about foreign nations.

So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2 This concerns Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt and the Egyptian army which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

Of Egypt, Concerning the force of Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates, in Carchemish, —which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, smote, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: —

3 Pick up both your small and large shields, and advance ready for battle!

Prepare ye buckler and shield, And draw near to battle:

4 Put the harnesses on the horses and get into your chariots; take your positions with your helmets on! Sharpen your spears; put on your armor!

Harness the horses, and mount, ye horsemen, Stand forth in helmets, —Polish the lances, put on the coats of mail.

5 Why do I see their lines broken and retreating? Their soldiers are defeated. They run away so quickly they don't even look back because they're so terrified by what's happening around them, declares the Lord.

Why have I seen it? They, panic-struck, are drawing back, Yea, their heroes, are crushed, Yea they have, fled, and not turned, —Terror round about! Declareth Yahweh.

6 Even the fastest of them can't get away; the soldiers can't escape. There in the north beside the Euphrates they fall and die.

Let not the swift, flee, Nor let the hero, escape, —Northward, beside the river Euphrates, have they stumbled, and fallen.

7 Who is this that's coming, rising like the Nile, like swirling rivers whose waters flood?

Who is it that is like the Nile when it riseth, Like rivers when his waters are tossed?

8 Egypt is rising like the Nile; its waters swirl like flooding rivers, boasting, “I will rise and sweep over the earth; I will destroy towns and the people in them.”

Egypt was like the Nile when it riseth, And like rivers, when the waters are tossed: So he said—I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city, and the dwellers therein.

9 Horses, charge in! Chariots, drive like crazy! Have the infantry advance: soldiers from Ethiopia and Put carrying their shields, archers from Lydia with their bows.

Mount the horses, And drive the chariots madly on, So let the heroes, go forth, —Ethiopians and Libyans that grasp the buckler, And Lydians that grasp—that tread—the bow, But, that day, belongeth to My Lord Yahweh of hosts—

10 But this is the day of the Lord God Almighty, a day of retribution when he takes vengeance on his enemies. The sword will destroy until it is satisfied, until it's had enough of their blood. The Lord God Almighty is having a sacrifice in the north country beside the Euphrates.

A day of avenging, to avenge him of his adversaries, When the sword shall devour and be filled, and be sated with their blood, —For, a sacrifice, hath My Lord, Yahweh of hosts, In the land of the North Towards the river Euphrates.

11 Go and find some healing ointment in Gilead, Virgin Daughter of Egypt! But whatever you use to help you will fail, because there's nothing that will heal you.

Go up to Gilead and fetch balsam, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain, hast thou multiplied remedies, Healing, there is none for thee.

12 The other nations have heard how you were humiliated in defeat. Everyone can hear your cries of pain. Soldiers fall over each other, and die together.

The nations have heard of thy disgrace, And, thine outcry, hath filled the earth, —For hero against hero, have they stumbled, Together, have fallen, the twain!

13 This is the message that the Lord gave to Jeremiah the prophet about the attack by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon on Egypt:

The word which Yahweh spake unto Jeremiah the prophet, —as to the coming of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt: —

14 Shout a warning in Egypt! Tell everyone in Migdol, and in Memphis and Tahpanhes: Get ready to defend yourselves, because war is destroying everything around you.

Tell ye it in Egypt, And let it be heard in Migdol, Yea let it be heard in Noph, and in Tahpanhes, —Say ye—Stand thou forth, and prepare thyself, For a sword hath devoured round about thee.

15 Why did Apis your bull god run away? He couldn't stand his ground because the Lord has knocked him down.

Wherefore have thy valiant ones been laid prostrate? He hath made no stand, because, Yahweh, hath driven him back:

16 Many soldiers trip and fall over one another and say, “Come on! Let's get back home to our people where we were born, otherwise we're going to be killed.”

Hath made many a one to be stumbling, Yea fallen is every one against his neighbour, So they have said—Arise and let us return to our own people, And unto the land of our birth, From the face of the sword of the oppressor.

17 When they get there they'll say about Pharaoh king of Egypt, “He just makes a lot of noise. He wasted his opportunity.”

Proclaim ye a name, —Pharaoh, king of Egypt—a Sound! He hath overstepped the time appointed!

18 As I live, declares the King who has the name “the Lord Almighty,” the king of Babylon will come. He is like Mount Tabor that stands out from the other mountains, like Mount Carmel high above the sea.

As I live, saith the King, Yahweh of hosts, is his name: Though Like Tabor among mountains, Like Carmel, Into the sea shall he go!

19 Pack your bags ready for exile, daughter living in Egypt! Memphis is going to be destroyed, an empty place where no one lives.

Baggage for captivity, prepare thee, O inhabitress, daughter of Egypt; For, Noph, shall become a desolation, And be burned without inhabitant.

20 Egypt is a beautiful young cow, but a stinging insect from the north is coming to attack her.

A calf of great beauty, is Egypt: The gad-fly, out of the North, cometh—cometh.

21 The soldiers that Egypt hired are like calves made fat for slaughter. They will also retreat. They won't stand and fight—they will all run away. Their day of destruction is coming; the time when they'll be punished.

Even her hirelings in her midst are like fatted calves, For, even they, have turned—have fled at once! have made no stand! For, their day of doom, hath come upon them, The time of their visitation.

22 The Egyptians will retreat with a rustle like a snake sliding away, because the enemy will attack them with axes, coming at them like wood-cutters chopping down trees.

Her noise, like a serpent, departeth, —For, with a force, they advance, And with axes, have they come against her, like them who fell trees:

23 They will cut them down like a thick forest, declares the Lord, because the invaders are like a swarm of locusts—there's so many of them that they can't be counted.

They have cut down her forest Declareth Yahweh, Surely he cannot be searched out, —For they have outnumbered locusts, and cannot be counted.

24 The people of Egypt will be humiliated. They will be handed over to the people of the north.

Put to shame is the daughter of Egypt, —She hath been delivered into the hand of the people of the North.

25 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Watch, because I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and Pharaoh. I will punish the people of Egypt with their gods and kings, and everyone who trusts in Pharaoh.

Saith Yahweh of host God of Israel, —Behold me! bringing punishment—against Amon of No, and upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt, and upon her gods and upon her kings, —Even upon Pharaoh, and upon all that trust in him;

26 I'm going to hand them over to those who want to kill them, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after all this happens, people will live in Egypt as they used to, declares the Lord.

And I will deliver them—Into the hand of them who are seeking their life, Even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon And into the hand of his servants, —And after that, shall it be inhabited as in the days of old Declareth Yahweh.

27 But you, descendants of Jacob my servant, you don't have to be fearful. Israelites, you don't need to be discouraged. I promise to rescue you from your distant places of exile, your descendants from the countries where they're being held captive. You will go home to a quiet and comfortable life, free from any threats.

Thou, therefore, do not fear, O my Servant Jacob Nor be dismayed O Israel, For behold me! Saving thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, —So shall Jacob return and be quiet and shall rest, With none to occasion alarm.

28 You descendants of Jacob, don't be afraid! declares the Lord, for I will be with you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I've scattered you, I won't completely destroy you. However, I will discipline you as you deserve, and you can be sure I won't leave you unpunished.

Thou, do not fear, O my Servant Jacob, Urgeth Yahweh, For, with thee, am I: Though I make an end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, Yet of thee, will I not make an end, But will correct thee in measure, And not hold thee, guiltless,