1
The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles ;
2
Against Egypt , against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt , who was by the river Euphrates in Carshemish, whom 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 mount, ye horsemen , and stand forth with your helmets; furbish 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 towards 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 satiated 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 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 around thee.
15
Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
16
He made many to fall , yes, 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 cried 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 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 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, 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.