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Judgment on Egypt

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:

Prepare buckler and shield,

and advance for battle!

Harness the horses;

mount the steeds!

Take your stations with your helmets,

whet your lances,

put on your coats of mail!

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.

The swift cannot flee away,

nor can the warrior escape;

in the north by the river Euphrates

they have stumbled and fallen.

Who is this, rising like the Nile,

like rivers whose waters surge?

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.

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.

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.

Go up to Gilead, and take balm,

O virgin daughter Egypt!

In vain you have used many medicines;

there is no healing for you.

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 Egypt

¹³ 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:

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.”

Why has Apis fled?

Why did your bull not stand?

—because the L ord thrust him down.

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.”

Give Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the name

“Braggart who missed his chance.”

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.

Pack your bags for exile,

sheltered daughter Egypt!

For Memphis shall become a waste,

a ruin, without inhabitant.

A beautiful heifer is Egypt—

a gadfly from the north lights upon her.

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.

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.

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.

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 Israel

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.

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.

Jeremiah uses now a form of speaking very common in the Prophets though remote from common use. For the Prophets, when they denounce God’s judgments and punishments on the ungodly, do not speak in a simple language, as though they were giving a narrative, but they employed figurative expressions, as though they wished to introduce men into the very scene itself. And that their doctrine might more effectually penetrate into the hearts of men, they bring forward various persons; they at one time introduce God as speaking, and at another they pronounce this or that according to the sentiments of others; and again, they declare the commands of God.

Jeremiah begins here by summoning the Egyptians, as though he were the herald of Pharaoh, and thus borrows the name of another person. He says, Prepare The verb ערך, orec, properly means to set in order, but here it signifies to prepare; Prepare, then, the buckler and the shield The word צנה, tsane, was a shield of a larger form, and מגן, megen, seems to have been a buckler carried by horsemen of light armor. And come near to battle: He then adds, Bind or he the horses The manner of fighting is not the same now as it was formerly; they fought in chariots, as heathen authors abundantly shew. He therefore says, he the horses, that is, join them together that they may draw the chariots. Go up, ye horsemen, stand in your helmets, clean your lances, and put on your coats of mail. The meaning is, that Egyptians would come well prepared with all kinds of arms that they might be formidable to their enemies. And hence the vengeance appeared more clearly, because they had been well furnished, so that they might seem to have gained the victory before they engaged with their enemies. This is the reason why the Prophet enumerates their complete armor, having omitted no material part; he mentions the lances, the helmets, the coats of mail, the chariots, the horses, and the shield, so that victory, according to the judgment of men, was already theirs. This is the first thing.

But we must observe the design of the Holy Spirit; it was his purpose to remove the veil from the eyes of the faithful, which for the most part prevents us to see as clearly as we ought the power of God; for when we fix our attention on warlike preparations, we do not think that anything is left for God to do; for they who are well prepared seem to be beyond the hazard of losing the day. That the Jews then might know that it would be nothing for God to punish the Egyptians, he records this preparation. And there is a kind of concession when he says, They shall indeed be furnished with a helmet, a coat of mail, a shield, a sword, and a lance; but all this would avail nothing as to the issue. Then from this prophetic word let us learn, that God makes no account of all those things which men prepare when they wish to effect anything. For smoke is everything that dazzles our eyes; so forces and arms have no importance before God; for by a single blast he can dissipate all such clouds. And this truth is very useful; for we look on external things, and when anything specious presents itself to us, we are immediately taken up with it, and rob God of all power; for we transfer his glory to these masks which appear before us. We now then understand why the Prophet speaks here of bucklers, and shields, and lances, and chariots, and helmets, and coats of mail.