Jeremiah 46

1 The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;

And it came to pass in the ninth month of Sedekias king of Juda, [that] Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

2 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

And in the eleventh year of Sedekiass, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken [up].

3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

And all the leaders of the king of Babylon went in, and sat in the middle gate, Marganasar, and Samagoth, and Nabusachar, and Nabusaris, Nagargas, Naserrabamath, and the rest of the leaders of the king of Babylon,

4 Harness the horses; and mount, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; polish the spears, and put on the coats of mail.

5 Why have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled apace, and look not back: for fear was on all sides, saith the LORD.

6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.

7 Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?

8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.

9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Cushites and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.

10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satisfied and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.

12 The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they have fallen both together.

13 The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.

14 Declare ye in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol, and proclaim in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour around thee.

and they sent, and took Jeremias out of the court of the prison, and gave him [in charge] to Godolias the son of Achicam, the son of Saphan: and they brought him out, and he sat in the midst of the people.

15 Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias in the court of the prison, saying,

16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.

Go and say to Abdemelech the Ethiopian, Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I [will] bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good.

17 They cried there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.

But I will save you in that day, and I will by no means deliver you into the hands of the men before whom you are afraid.

18 As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.

For I will surely save you, and you shall by no means fall by the sword; and you shall find your life, because you did trust in me, says the Lord.

19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.

20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.

21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bulls; for they also have turned back, and have fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity had come upon them, and the time of their punishment.

22 Its voice shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.

23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:

26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.

27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.