1The word of Yehovah which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. 2Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh-neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. 3Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. 4Harness the horses, and mount, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; polish the spears, put on the coats of mail. 5Why have I seen it? they are dismayed and have turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled in haste, and do not look back: terror is on every side, says Yehovah. 6Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. 7Who is this that rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? 8Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and their inhabitants. 9Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and 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 a day of the Lord, Yehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself on his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiated, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yehovah of hosts, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. 11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; 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 have fallen both of them together. 13The word that Yehovah spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt. 14Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, Stand forth, and prepare yourself; for the sword has devoured all around you. 15Why are your strong ones swept away? they did not stand, because Yehovah drove them. 16He made many stumble, indeed, they fell one upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us 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. 18As I live, says the King, whose name is Yehovah of hosts, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. 19O daughter who dwells in Egypt, prepare yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burned up, without inhabitant. 20Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come, it has come. 21Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also have turned back, they have fled away together, they did not stand: for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their visitation. 22Its sound shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as cutters of wood. 23They shall cut down her forest, says Yehovah, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. 24The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. 25Yehovah of hosts, 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: 26and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, says Yehovah. 27But do not fear, O Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid. 28Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, says Yehovah; 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 by no means leave you unpunished.