¹The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations, ²about Egypt, concerning the forces of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which were at the River Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon attacked in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah.

³“Take up the buckler and the shield,

And give battle.

⁴Harness the horses,

And mount them, you horsemen,

And take your stand in helmets.

Polish the spears;

Put the coat of mail on.

⁵Why have I seen them in a state of fear,

In retreat,

With their warriors routed,

And fleeing hastily,

Not turning round,

With fear all around?

Says the Lord.

⁶Don't let the light foot soldiers flee,

And don't let the warrior take flight;

They will falter and fall in the north

By the side of the River Euphrates.

⁷Who is this who is arising like the Nile,

Whose water rages as with fast-flowing rivers?

⁸Egypt is rising like the Nile,

Whose water rages as with fast-flowing rivers,

And it has said,

‘I will rise up and cover the land.

I will destroy the city

And the inhabitants in it.’

⁹Rise up, you horses,

And move madly, you chariots,

And let the warriors set out

– Ethiopians and Libyans

Who wield the shield,

And the Lydians

Who wield and draw the bow.

¹⁰For that day is for the Lord

– The Lord of hosts –

A day of vengeance,

For him to be avenged on his adversaries.

And the sword will consume and be satiated,

And be bathed in their blood,

For the Lord – the Lord of hosts – will have a sacrifice

In the northern land at the River Euphrates.

¹¹O virgin daughter of Egypt,

Go up to Gilead

And fetch balsam resin.

You have increased your medications in vain,

And you shall not make a recovery.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame,

And your outcry has filled the earth,

For warrior has stumbled against warrior,

And the two of them have fallen together.”

¹³The word which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, on the occasion of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon coming to attack the land of Egypt.

¹⁴“Announce it in Egypt,

And proclaim it in Migdol,

And proclaim it in Noph and in Tahpanhes.

Say, ‘Take your stand and prepare yourself,

For the sword will consume around you.’

¹⁵Why have your mighty men been swept away?

They did not stand firm,

For the Lord repulsed them.

¹⁶He made many stumble;

Indeed, one fell on another,

So that they said,

‘Get up and let us return to our people,

And to our native land,

Because of the ravaging sword.’

¹⁷They called out there,

‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is in a tumult;

He has let the set time pass by.’

¹⁸As I live, says the king,

The Lord of hosts is his name,

As Tabor is among the mountains,

And Carmel is by the sea,

He will come.

¹⁹Make yourself articles for your deportation,

O resident daughter of Egypt,

For Noph will become a desolation,

And it will be burned without leaving an inhabitant.

²⁰Egypt is a very beautiful calf,

But destruction will come from the north

– It will come.

²¹Her hired soldiers in her precincts

Are also like fatted calves,

For they too have turned back

And fled together and did not stand,

For the day of their downfall has come over them

– The time of their visitation.

²²Her voice will give utterance like a serpent,

For they will advance with an army,

And they will come against her with axes,

Like hewers of wood.

²³They will cut her forest down,

Says the Lord,

Although it cannot be searched out,

For they are more numerous than locusts

– Countless they are.

²⁴The daughter of Egypt will be ashamed;

She will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.”

²⁵The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “I am about to visit Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and its gods, and its kings – both Pharaoh and those who put their trust in him. ²⁶And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, both into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. And after that it will be inhabited as in former days, says the Lord.

²⁷But don't you fear, Jacob my servant,

And do not be afraid, Israel,

For I am about to save you from a distance,

And your seed from the land of their captivity,

And Jacob will return,

And he will be quiet and undisturbed,

With no-one causing fear.

²⁸Don't you fear, my servant Jacob,

Says the Lord,

For I am with you,

For I will make an end of all the nations

To which I have driven you,

But I will not make an end of you,

But I will discipline you judicially

And I will certainly not acquit you.”