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Judgment on Egypt46 The word of the L ord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the nations. 2 Concerning Egypt, about the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah: 3 Prepare buckler and shield, and advance for battle! 4 Harness the horses; mount the steeds! Take your stations with your helmets, whet your lances, put on your coats of mail! 5 Why do I see them terrified? They have fallen back; their warriors are beaten down, and have fled in haste. They do not look back— terror is all around! says the L ord. 6 The swift cannot flee away, nor can the warrior escape; in the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen.
7 Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge? 8 Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. It said, Let me rise, let me cover the earth, let me destroy cities and their inhabitants. 9 Advance, O horses, and dash madly, O chariots! Let the warriors go forth: Ethiopia and Put who carry the shield, the Ludim, who draw the bow. 10 That day is the day of the Lord G od of hosts, a day of retribution, to gain vindication from his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated, and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord G od of hosts holds a sacrifice in the land of the north by the river Euphrates. 11 Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you. 12 The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for warrior has stumbled against warrior; both have fallen together.
Babylonia Will Strike Egypt13 The word that the L ord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt: 14 Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, “Take your stations and be ready, for the sword shall devour those around you.” 15 Why has Apis fled? Why did your bull not stand? —because the L ord thrust him down. 16 Your multitude stumbled and fell, and one said to another, “Come, let us go back to our own people and to the land of our birth, because of the destroying sword.” 17 Give Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the name “Braggart who missed his chance.”
18 As I live, says the King, whose name is the L ord of hosts, one is coming like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea. 19 Pack your bags for exile, sheltered daughter Egypt! For Memphis shall become a waste, a ruin, without inhabitant.
20 A beautiful heifer is Egypt— a gadfly from the north lights upon her. 21 Even her mercenaries in her midst are like fatted calves; they too have turned and fled together, they did not stand; for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their punishment.
22 She makes a sound like a snake gliding away; for her enemies march in force, and come against her with axes, like those who fell trees. 23 They shall cut down her forest, says the L ord, though it is impenetrable, because they are more numerous than locusts; they are without number. 24 Daughter Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be handed over to a people from the north.
25 The L ord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: See, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26I will hand them over to those who seek their life, to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the L ord.
God Will Save Israel27 But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for I am going to save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and no one shall make him afraid. 28 As for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the L ord, for I am with you. I will make an end of all the nations among which I have banished you, but I will not make an end of you! I will chastise you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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Jeremiah pursues the same subject, and continues to speak in God’s name, that he might more powerfully impress minds otherwise tardy; I will give them, he says, into the hand of enemies, and those deadly enemies; for we have said elsewhere that to “seek life” is not to spare it. Expressed here then is the cruelty of the Chaldean army, as though he had said that they would be deadly enemies to the Egyptians. And he explains himself more fully, and says, Into the hand of the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants, so that not only Nebuchadnezzar was to be victorious over Egypt, but also his servants, which was still more degrading. A promise is at length added, not to shew favor to that heathen nation, but that God might shew that he would be so far merciful towards the Egyptians as not wholly to destroy them. It shall be inhabited, he says, as in ancient days. Ezekiel says that the kingdom would be small and humble or abject. (Ezekiel 29:14, 15.) But our Prophet seems to promise to Egypt the same prosperity as it had before its overthrow. We have already said that restoration was promised to the Egyptians, not because God was pacified towards them, but because his purpose was that his mercy should be made evident in the judgments he executed even on foreign nations; and further, it served to confirm prophecy, when to Egypt, after having been destroyed, was granted that restoration of which Jeremiah had prophesied. The truth, then, of what the Prophet had said became more evident through the two changes, than if he had only said, “God shall destroy Egypt.” We now, then, perceive why the Prophet spoke of the future condition of Egypt. It follows, — |