46 The
word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; 2 Against
Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the
river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote
in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. 3 Order
ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. 4 Harness
the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets;
furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. 5 Wherefore
have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones
are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round
about, 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 the inhabitants thereof. 9 Come
up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth;
the Ethiopians 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 satiate 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 are fallen both
together. 13 The
word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king
of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt. 14 Declare
ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes:
say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round
about thee.
15
Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did
drive them. 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. 17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of
Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed. 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. 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 bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled
away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was
come upon them, and the time of their visitation. 22 The voice thereof 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 Nebuchadrezzar 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 off,
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
whither 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. .