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Word Against Egypt

¹ That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet ^(C1)concerning the nations.

² To ^(C1)Egypt, concerning the military force of ^(C2)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at ^(C3)Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down in the ^(C4)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³ "^(C1)Arrange the shield and large shield,
And draw near for the battle!

⁴ "Harness the horses,
And ^(F1)mount the steeds,
And take your stand with helmets on!
^(C1)Polish the spears,
Put on the ^(C2)scale-armor!

⁵ "Why have I seen it?
They are shattered;
They are ^(C1)drawing back,
And their ^(C2)mighty men are crushed
And have fled to refuge,
Without facing back;
^(F1)(C3)Terror is on every side!"
Declares Yahweh.

⁶ Let not the ^(C1)swift man flee,
Nor the mighty man escape;
In the north beside the river Euphrates
They have ^(C2)stumbled and fallen.

⁷ Who is this that ^(C1)rises like the Nile,
Like the rivers whose waters toss about?

⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile,
Even like the rivers whose waters toss about;
And He has said, "I will ^(C1)rise and cover that land;
I will surely ^(C2)cause the city to perish, as well as its inhabitants."

⁹ Go up, you horses, and ^(F1)(C1)drive madly, you chariots,
That the mighty men may go forth:
^(F2)Ethiopia and ^(F3)(C2)Put, who seize the shield,
And the ^(F4)(C3)Lydians, who seize and bend the bow.

¹⁰ Indeed, ^(C1)that day belongs to Lord Yahweh of hosts,
A day of ^(C2)vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His adversaries;
And the ^(C3)sword will devour and be satiated
And ^(F1)drink its fill of their blood;
For there will be a ^(C4)sacrifice to Lord Yahweh of hosts
In the land of the north by the river Euphrates.

¹¹ Go ^(C1)up to Gilead and obtain balm,
^(C2)O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain have you multiplied ^(F1)remedies;
There is ^(C3)no healing for you.

¹² The nations have heard of your ^(C1)disgrace,
And the earth is full of your ^(C2)outcry;
For one ^(C3)warrior has stumbled over ^(F1)another,
And both of them have fallen down together.

¹³ This is the ^(F1)message which Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the ^(C1)coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to ^(C2)strike down the land of Egypt:

¹⁴ "Declare in Egypt and cause it to be heard in ^(C1)Migdol;
Cause it to be heard also in Memphis and ^(C2)Tahpanhes;
Say, 'Take your stand and get yourself ready,
For the ^(C3)sword has devoured those around you.'

¹⁵ "Why are your ^(C1)mighty ones thrown down?
They do not stand because Yahweh has ^(C2)thrust them down.

¹⁶ "They have repeatedly ^(C1)stumbled;
Indeed, they have fallen one against another.
Then they said, 'Rise up! And ^(C2)let us return
To our own people and land of our birth
Away from the ^(F1)(C3)sword of the oppressor.'

¹⁷ "^(F1)They called out there, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt is but ^(C1)a rumbling;
He has let the appointed time pass by!'

¹⁸ "As I live," declares the ^(C1)King
Whose name is Yahweh of hosts,
"Surely one shall come who looms up like ^(C2)Tabor among the mountains,
Or like ^(C3)Carmel by the sea.

¹⁹ "Make your baggage ready for ^(C1)exile,
O inhabitant of the ^(C2)daughter of Egypt,
For ^(C3)Memphis will become a desolation;
It will even be turned into ruin and without inhabitants.

²⁰ "Egypt is a pretty ^(C1)heifer,
But a ^(F1)horsefly is coming ^(C2)from the north—it is coming!

²¹ "Also her ^(C1)mercenaries in her midst
Are like ^(F1)fattened ^(C2)calves,
For even they have turned back and have fled away together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their disaster has come upon them,
The time of their ^(C3)punishment.

²² "Its sound moves along like a serpent;
For they move on ^(F1)like a military force
And come to her as woodcutters with axes.

²³ "They have cut down her ^(C1)forest," declares Yahweh;
"Surely it will no longer be searched out,
Even though ^(F1)they are now more numerous than ^(C2)locusts
And are without number.

²⁴ "The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,
Given over to the hand of the ^(C1)people of the north."

²⁵ Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says, "Behold, I am going to punish Amon of ^(C1)Thebes, and ^(C2)Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her ^(C3)gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who ^(C4)trust in him.²⁶ "I shall give them into the hand of those who are ^(C1)seeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. ^(C2)Afterwards, however, it will be dwelt in like in the days of old," declares Yahweh.

²⁷ "But as for you, O Jacob My servant, ^(C1)do not fear,
Nor be dismayed, O Israel!
For behold, I am going to ^(C2)save you from afar,
And your seed from the land of their captivity;
And Jacob will return and have ^(C3)quiet
And be at ease, with no one making him tremble.

²⁸ "O Jacob My servant, do not fear," declares Yahweh,
"For ^(C1)I am with you.
For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations
Where I have banished you,
Yet I will ^(C2)not make a complete destruction of you;
But I will ^(C3)discipline you with justice
And by no means leave you unpunished."