VIN(i)
1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2 To Egypt against the army of Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, that was upon the river Phrath in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel smote in the fourth year to Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3 Prepare you the buckler and shield and draw near to battle.
4 Harness the horses and mount the steeds! And take your stand with helmets! Polish the spears! Put on the body armor!
5 "What do I see in them? They are terrified. They are retreating. Their warriors are defeated. They flee without looking back. Terror is all around them!" declares the LORD.
6 "The swift cannot flee, nor can the strong escape. In the north, beside the Euphrates River, they stumble and fall.
7 Who is this that rises like the Nile, like the rivers whose waters surge?
8 Egypt is rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He says, 'I'll rise and cover the land. I'll destroy city and its inhabitants.'
9 Horses, get up! Chariots, drive furiously! Let the warriors go forward, Ethiopia and Put who carry shields, and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
10 That day belongs to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. It is a day of vengeance to take vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour and be satisfied, and will drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north, by the Euphrates river.
11 Go up to Gilead and get balm, virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you multiply remedies, but there is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame. Your cry fills the earth. One warrior will stumble over another, and both will fall together.
13 The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt:
14 "Announce in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol. Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes. Say, 'Take your positions and be ready, for the sword will devour all around you.'
15 "Why should your soldiers be cut down? They cannot stand because the LORD will push them down.
16 They repeatedly stumble and fall. They say to each other, 'Get up! Let's go back to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressor's sword.'
17 "There they will cry: 'Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is a big windbag. He has missed his chance.'
18 As surely as I live," declares the king, whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. Indeed, one will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.
19 Prepare your baggage for exile, daughter living in Egypt, for Memphis will become a desolate place. It will become a ruin without inhabitant.
20 Egypt is a very fair heifer; the gad-fly cometh, it cometh from the north.
21 "'Egypt's hired soldiers are like fattened calves. They will turn and run away together. They will not stand their ground. The day of destruction is coming. At that time they will be punished.'
22 Its sound is like a serpent's going, for they shall go in force, and come against her with axes, like woodcutters.
23 "'They will cut down the forest,' declares the LORD, 'since Egypt cannot be found. They are more numerous than locusts. They cannot be counted.
24 "'The people of Egypt will be put to shame. They will be handed over to the people from the north.'
25 the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, said, "Look, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him.
26 I'll give them to those who are seeking their lives and to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his officers. Then afterwards, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past," declares the LORD.