Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Jeremiah 46

YHWH brings Egypt’s military pride under judgment and assures scattered Israel of preservation without exemption from correction.

Egypt’s army prepares for battle beside the Euphrates at Carchemish, where Nebuchadnezzar defeats Pharaoh Necoh’s forces during Jehoiakim’s fourth year as king of Judah. Through Jeremiah, YHWH depicts Egypt’s confidence collapsing into terror and flight. A second oracle announces Babylon’s invasion of Egypt itself, bringing judgment on Pharaoh, Egypt’s gods, and those who trust in him. The closing words turn to Jacob and Israel, promising return from captivity while retaining the warning of measured correction.

fear for the futureinjustice and angersermon or Bible study notes
Read
1The LORD’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3“Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle!
4Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand up with your helmets. Polish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
5Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward. Their mighty ones are beaten down, have fled in haste, and don’t look back. Terror is on every side,” says the LORD.
6“Don’t let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. In the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen.
7“Who is this who rises up like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge?
8Egypt rises up like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth. I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’
9Go up, you horses! Rage, you chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
10For that day is of the Lord, GOD of Armies, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself of his adversaries. The sword will devour and be satiated, and will drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, GOD of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. You use many medicines in vain. There is no healing for you.
12The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they both fall together.”
13The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt:
14“Declare in Egypt, publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes; say, ‘Stand up, and prepare, for the sword has devoured around you.’
15Why are your strong ones swept away? They didn’t stand, because the LORD pushed them.
16He made many to stumble. Yes, they fell on one another. They said, ‘Arise! Let’s go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.’
17They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’
18“As I live,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies, “surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so he will come.
19You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis will become a desolation, and will be burned up, without inhabitant.
20“Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come. It has come.
21Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall, for they also are turned back. They have fled away together. They didn’t stand, for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation.
22Its sound will go like the serpent, for they will march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
23They will cut down her forest,” says the LORD, “though it can’t be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.
24The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed; she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.”
25The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him.
26I 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. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says the LORD.
27“But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant. Don’t be dismayed, Israel; for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid.
28Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says the LORD, “for I am with you; for 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 I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Jeremiah 46:27The address shifts from Egypt to Israel, promising rescue from distant captivity and a return to safety.
Jeremiah 46:28God’s presence secures Jacob’s survival, while measured correction makes clear that preservation does not cancel accountability.
Jeremiah 46:10The battle belongs to the Lord, whose vengeance overturns Egypt’s boast that it will cover the earth.
Where this chapter reaches

Isaiah and Ezekiel share Jeremiah’s oracles of judgment against Egypt, including the humbling of its rulers and the exposure of its gods. 2 Kings shares the historical figures Pharaoh Necoh, Jehoiakim, and Nebuchadnezzar, and records Babylon’s takeover of territory once controlled by Egypt.

Jeremiah 46's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you in the contrast between Egypt’s battle preparations and its soldiers’ flight?

Write on this

How do the closing promises to Jacob hold together safety, God’s presence, and correction?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Jeremiah 46

What battle is described in Jeremiah 46?

The opening oracle concerns the battle of Carchemish beside the Euphrates, where Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated Pharaoh Necoh’s Egyptian army. Verse 2 dates it to the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Verse 13 introduces a distinct announcement that Nebuchadnezzar will strike Egypt’s own land.

Why does Jeremiah 46 end with a promise to Israel?

After announcing Egypt’s defeat, YHWH addresses Jacob and Israel as his servant. He promises to save them from distant captivity and bring them home without fear. The ending distinguishes Israel’s preservation from the fate of the nations where they were scattered, while making clear that Israel still faces correction.

What does the day of vengeance mean in Jeremiah 46:10?

Verse 10 interprets Egypt’s defeat as the Lord’s judgment on his adversaries. The sword drinking blood and the battle described as a sacrifice are images of violent slaughter. In this oracle, the day is tied to the army’s fall beside the Euphrates, rather than assigned a separate future date.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Jeremiah 46. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Jeremiah · 52 chapters
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152
What the Bible says about fear →What the Bible says about anger →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).