11. “Go up to Gilead and get some balm,people of Egypt!You have prepared many medicines,but they will not work;you will not be healed.
12. The nations have heard of your shame,and your cries fill all the earth.One warrior has run into another;both of them have fallen down together!”
13. This is the message the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon’s coming to attack Egypt:
14. “Announce this message in Egypt, and preach it in Migdol.Preach it also in the cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes:‘Get ready for war,because the battle is all around you.’
15. Egypt, why were your warriors killed?They could not stand because the Lord pushed them down.
16. They stumbled again and againand fell over each other.They said, ‘Get up. Let’s go backto our own people and our homeland.We must get away from our enemy’s sword!’
17. In their homelands those soldiers called out,‘The king of Egypt is only a lot of noise.He missed his chance for glory!’ ”
18. The King’s name is the Lord All-Powerful.He says, “As surely as I live,a powerful leader will come.He will be like Mount Tabor among the mountains,like Mount Carmel by the sea.
19. People of Egypt, pack your thingsto be taken away as captives,because Memphis will be destroyed.It will be a ruin, and no one will live there.
20. “Egypt is like a beautiful young cow,but a horsefly is comingfrom the north to attack her.
21. The hired soldiers in Egypt’s armyare like fat calves,because even they all turn and run away together;they do not stand strong against the attack.Their time of destruction is coming;they will soon be punished.
22. Egypt is like a hissing snake that is trying to escape.The enemy comes closer and closer.They come against Egypt with axeslike men who cut down trees.