Jeremiah 46:2–16

²concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:

³“Deploy your shields, small and large;

advance for battle!

⁴Harness the horses; mount the steeds;

take your positions with helmets on!

Polish your spears;

put on armor!

⁵Why am I seeing this?

They are terrified,

they are retreating;

their warriors are defeated,

they flee in haste without looking back;

terror is on every side!”

declares the LORD.

⁶“The swift cannot flee,

and the warrior cannot escape!

In the north by the River Euphrates

they stumble and fall.

⁷Who is this, rising like the Nile,

like rivers whose waters churn?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile,

and its waters churn like rivers,

boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;

I will destroy the cities and their people.’

⁹Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots!

Let the warriors come forth—

Cush^a and Put carrying their shields,

men of Lydia drawing the bow.

¹⁰For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts,

a day of vengeance against His foes.

The sword will devour until it is satisfied,

until it is quenched with their blood.

For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice

in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

¹¹Go up to Gilead for balm,

O Virgin Daughter of Egypt!

In vain you try many remedies,

but for you there is no healing.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame,

and your outcry fills the earth,

because warrior stumbles over warrior

and both of them have fallen together.”

¹³This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;

proclaim it in Memphis^b and Tahpanhes:

‘Take your positions and prepare yourself,

for the sword devours those around you.’

¹⁵Why have your warriors been laid low?

They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.

¹⁶They continue to stumble;

indeed, they have fallen over one another.

They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people

and to the land of our birth,

away from the sword of the oppressor.’