1 The word of the Lord which came to Ieremiah the Prophet, against the Gentiles,
2 Against Egypt, against the armie of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was by the riuer Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchad-rezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth yeere of Iehoiakim the son of Iosiah king of Iudah.
3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw neere to battell.
4 Harnesse the horses, and get vp ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets, furbish the speares, and put on the brigandines.
5 Wherefore haue I seene them dismaid, and turned away backe? and their mightie ones are beaten downe, & are fled apace, and looke not back: for feare was round about, saith the Lord.
6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mightie man escape: they shal stumble and fall toward the North by the riuer Euphrates.
7 Who is this that cōmeth vp as a flood, whose waters are moued as þe riuers?
8 Egypt riseth vp like a flood, and his waters are moued like the riuers, and he saith, I wil goe vp, and will couer the earth, I will destroy the citie and the inhabitants thereof.
9 Come vp ye horses, and rage yee charets, and let the mightie men come forth, the Ethiopians 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 hostes, a day of vengeance, that he may auenge him of his aduersaries: and the sword shal deuoure, and it shall be satiate, and made drunke with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the North countrey by the riuer Euphrates.
11 Goe vp into Gilead, and take balme, O virgine, the daughter of Egypt: in vaine shalt thou vse many medicines: for thou shalt not be cured.
12 The nations haue heard of thy shame, and thy crie hath filled the land: for the mightie man hath stumbled against the mightie, and they are fallen both together.
13 ¶ The word that the Lord spake to Ieremiah the Prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar King of Babylon should come & 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 shal deuoure round about thee.
15 Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the Lord did driue them.
16 He made many to fall, yea one fell vpon another, and they said, Arise, and let vs goe againe to our owne people, and to the land of our natiuitie, from the oppressing sword.
17 They did crie there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise, he hath passed the time appointed.
18 As I liue, saith the King, whose Name is the Lord of hostes, Surely as Tabor is among the mountaines, and as Carmel by the Sea, so shall hee come.
19 Oh thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thy selfe to goe into captiuitie: for Noph shalbe waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is like a very faire heifer, but destruction commeth: it commeth out of the North.
21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her, like fatted bullocks, for they also are turned backe, and are fled away together; they did not stand, because the day of their calamitie was come vpon them, and the time of their visitation.
22 The voice thereof shall goe like a serpent, for they shall march with an armie, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
23 They shall cut downe her forrest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched, because they are more then the grashoppers, and are innumerable.
24 The daughter of Egypt shalbe confounded, she shalbe deliuered into the hand of the people of the North.
25 The Lord of hostes the God of Israel saith, Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings, euen Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him.
26 And I will deliuer them into the hand of those that seeke their liues, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his seruants, and afterwards it shalbe inhabited, as in the dayes of old, saith the Lord.
27 ¶ But feare not thou, O my seruant Iacob, and be not dismaied, O Israel: for behold, I will saue thee from afarre off, and thy seed from the land of their captiuitie, and Iacob shall returne and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28 Feare thou not, O Iacob my seruant, saith the Lord, for I am with thee, for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I haue driuen thee, but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure, yet will I not leaue thee wholly vnpunished.
The defeat of the Egyptians. (1-12) Their overthrow after the siege of Tyre. (13-26) A promise of comfort to the Jews. (27,28)1-12 The whole word of God is against those who obey not the gospel of Christ; but it is for those, even of the Gentiles, who turn to Him. The prophecy begins with Egypt. Let them strengthen themselves with all the art and interest they have, yet it shall be all in vain. The wounds God inflicts on his enemies, cannot be healed by medicines. Power and prosperity soon pass from one to another in this changing world.
13-28 Those who encroached on others, shall now be themselves encroached on. Egypt is now like a very fair heifer, not accustomed to the yoke of subjection; but destruction comes out of the north: the Chaldeans shall come. Comfort and peace are spoken to the Israel of God, designed to encourage them when the judgments of God were abroad among the nations. He will be with them, and only correct them in measure; and will not punish them with everlasting destruction from his presence.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.