Jeremiah prophesies the overthrow of Pharaoh's army at the Euphrates, 1-12, and the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, 13-26. He comforts Jacob in his chastisement, 27, 28.
1 [The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles.]
2 [Against Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, who was by the Euphrates River in Carshemish, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.]
3 "Order the buckler and shield/
and draw near to battle.
4 Harness the horses and mount, you 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,/
have fled apace, and do not look back,/
for fear was on all sides," says the LORD.
6 Do not let the swift flee away,/
nor the mighty man escape!/
They shall stumble and fall/
toward the north by the Euphrates River.
7 Who is this who comes up as a flood,/
whose waters are moved as the rivers?
8 Egypt rises up like a flood,/
and his waters are moved like the rivers,/
and he says, "I will go up and cover the earth./
I will destroy the city and its inhabitants."
9 Come up, you horses, and rage, you chariots,/
and let the mighty men come forth—/
the Cushites and the Libyans who handle the shield,/
and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts,/
a day of vengeance, so that he may avenge himself of his adversaries./
And the sword shall devour and shall be satiated/
and made drunk with their blood,/
for the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice/
in the north country by the Euphrates River.
11 Go up into Gilead and take balm,/
O virgin, the daughter of Egypt./
In vain you shall use many medicines,/
for you shall not be cured.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,/
and your cry has filled the land./
For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty,/
and they have fallen both together.
13 [The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.]
14 "Declare in Egypt, publish in Migdol,/
and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes./
Say, 'Stand fast and prepare,/
for the sword shall devour around you.'
15 Why are your valiant men swept away?/
They did not stand because the LORD drove them.
16 He made many to fall./
Even one fell upon another./
And they said, 'Arise, and let us go back 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 has passed the time appointed.'
18 As I live," says the King,/
whose name is the LORD of hosts,/
"surely as Tabor is among the mountains/
and as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.
19 O daughter dwelling in Egypt,/
furnish yourself to go into captivity,/
for Noph shall be waste and desolate/
without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer,/
but destruction comes. It comes out of the north.
21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her/
like fattened bulls,/
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," says the LORD,/
"though it cannot be searched/
because they are more than the swarming-locusts/
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 says, "Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings—even Pharaoh and all those who trust in him— 26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old," says the LORD.
27 "But do not fear, O my servant Jacob,/
and do not be dismayed, O Israel,/
for behold, I will save you from afar/
and your offspring from the land of their captivity./
And Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease,/
and no one shall make him afraid.
28 Do not fear, O Jacob my servant," says the LORD,/
"for I am with you./
I will make a full end of all the nations/
where I have driven you,/
but I will not make a full end of you,/
but correct you in measure./
Yet I will not leave you wholly unpunished."
Matthew Henry Commentary - Jeremiah, Chapter 46[➚]
[v.23] -"swarming-locusts" - The swarming-locust (sometimes just called the locust) were known for their vast increase, the multitude they bring forth and the large numbers in which they appear.