1. The Word of Jehovah which was to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations:
2. against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3. Set in order the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
4. Harness the horses, and mount, O horsemen. Yea, stand with helmets, polish the spears, put on coats of mail.
5. Why have I seen that they are afraid and turned backward? And their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled for refuge, and do not look back. Terror is all around, says Jehovah.
6. Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. They stumbled and fell to the north, by the side of the river Euphrates.
7. Who is this rising up like the Nile, whose waters surge about like the rivers?
8. Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters surge about like the rivers. And he says, I will go up and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and its people.
9. Come up, horses; and rage, chariots! And let the mighty men come forth, the Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, and the Lydians who handle and tread the bow.
10. For this is the day of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself of His foes. And the sword shall devour, and be sated, and made drunk with their blood, for there is a sacrifice to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11. Go up into Gilead and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt. In vain you shall use many remedies; healing is not for you.
12. The nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty; they have fallen together, both of them.
13. The Word that Jehovah spoke to Jeremiah the prophet of the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to strike the land of Egypt.
14. Declare it in Egypt, and make it heard in Migdol, and make it heard in Noph and in Tahpanhes; say, Stand fast and get yourself ready, for the sword shall devour all around you.
15. Why is your mighty one swept away? He did not stand because Jehovah thrust him down.
16. He made many stumble; yea, one fell on his neighbor. And they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressing sword.
17. They cried there, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is an empty roar; he has passed the appointed time.
18. As I live, says the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, he shall come.
19. O daughter dwelling in Egypt, get ready to go into captivity. For Noph shall be a waste, and set afire, without inhabitant.
20. Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but coming a stinger comes out of the north.
21. Also her hired ones are in the midst of her like calves of the stall; for they also have turned back, fleeing together. They did not stand because the day of their calamity had come on them, the time of their punishment.
22. Its sound is like a serpent's going, for they shall go in force, and come against her with axes, like woodcutters.
23. They have cut down her forest, says Jehovah, though it cannot be searched, because they are more than the locusts, and there is no number to them.
24. The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed. She shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25. Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says, Behold, I am punishing the multitudes of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and 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, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And afterward it will be peopled, as in the days of old, declares Jehovah.
27. But you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob; and do not dread, O Israel. For, behold, I am saving you from afar off, and your seed from the land of their exile. And Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make afraid.
28. You shall not fear, O Jacob My servant, says Jehovah, for I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations there where I have driven you. But I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you justly, and I will not leave you unpunished.