1That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2Concerning Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck down in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3Set in order the buckler and the shield, and draw near for battle!
4Harness the horses, and mount, you horsemen! Take your stand with helmets on; polish the spears, put on the coats of mail!
5Why do I see them shattered, retreating backward? Their warriors are beaten down, they have fled in flight and have not turned back—terror on every side, declares Yahweh.
6Let not the swift flee, nor the warrior escape; northward, beside the river Euphrates, they have stumbled and fallen.
7Who is this that rises like the Nile, whose waters surge like the rivers?
8Egypt rises like the Nile, and like the rivers its waters surge. It said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.’
9Go up, you horses; drive madly, you chariots! Let the warriors go forth—Cush and Put, who grasp the shield, and the Ludim, who grasp and bend the bow.
10That day belongs to the Lord Yahweh 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 Yahweh of hosts has a sacrifice in the land of the north by the river Euphrates.
11Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have multiplied remedies; there is no healing for you.
12The nations have heard of your shame, and your outcry has filled the earth; for warrior has stumbled against warrior, and together the two of them have fallen.
13The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to strike down the land of Egypt:
14Declare it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it also in Memphis and in Tahpanhes. Say, ‘Take your stand and prepare yourself, for the sword has devoured all around you.’
15Why has your mighty one been swept away? He did not stand, because Yahweh thrust him down.
16He made many stumble; indeed, each fell against his neighbor. And they said, ‘Rise up! Let us return to our own people and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressing sword.’
17There they cried out: ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’
18As I live, declares the King—Yahweh of hosts is his name—surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, one shall come.
19Make for yourself baggage for exile, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt! For Memphis shall become a desolation, laid waste, without inhabitant.
20Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming—it is coming!
21Even her hired soldiers in her midst are like fattened calves; for they too have turned and fled together, they did not stand. For the day of their disaster has come upon them, the time of their reckoning.
22Her sound is like a serpent gliding away, for they advance in force; with axes they come against her, like woodcutters.
23They cut down her forest, declares Yahweh, though it cannot be searched out; for they are more numerous than locusts, and they are without number.
24The daughter of Egypt is put to shame; she is given into the hand of a people from the north.
25Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt and her gods and her kings—upon Pharaoh and upon those who trust in him.
26And I will give them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. But afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares Yahweh.
27But you, do not fear, my servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I am saving you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid.
28You, do not fear, my servant Jacob, declares Yahweh, for I am with you. For 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, but I will by no means leave you unpunished.
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