Jeremiah 46:21
Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation. Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
Jeremiah 46:21 belongs to the prophecies against the foreign nations and kingdoms surrounding Israel in Jeremiah 46 to 51, in which their doom is pronounced, especially Babylon. More specifically, it belongs to Jeremiah's prophecy concerning Egypt, standing among the closing chapters of the book that cover his personal experiences and his going into Egypt. In chronological order this prophecy stands last, coming after Jeremiah 40 to 45 and Jeremiah 47; the prophecies are not placed in chronological order in the book because of the way the manuscript rolls were gathered together into one book, but the chapter itself clearly indicates its chronology, and this displacement makes no change in the teaching.
The verse predicts that Egypt would be invaded, conquered, and spoiled by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, falling before that mighty conqueror. It means the day of Egypt's calamity and time of visitation had come, when her hired defenders would not stand but would turn back and flee away together. Though Egypt was ancient and powerful and defensible by sea, desert, navy, and Nile, it would fall into the hand of strangers forever, become the basest of the kingdoms, no more rule over the nations, have no more a native prince, and lose its idols, passing successively under Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Ptolemies, Romans, Saracens, Mamelukes, and Turks.