1The Word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations;

2Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, 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.

4Harness the horses, and mount the steeds. Yea, stand with helmets, polish the spears; put on body armor.

5Why have I seen that they are afraid, turned backward? And their mighty ones are beaten down and have fled for refuge, and they do not look back. Terror is all around," says the LORD.

6"Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. They stumbled and fell in the north, by the side of the river Euphrates.

7Who is this rising up like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters?

8Egypt 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. '

9Come up, O horses; and rage, O chariots! And let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.

10For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself of His foes. And the sword shall devour, and it shall be filled and made drunk with their blood, for the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

11Go up into Gilead and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt. In vain shall you use many medicines, for you shall not be cured.

12The nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and they have both fallen together."

13The word spoken by the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, of the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to strike the land of Egypt.

14"Declare it in Egypt, and cry it in Migdol, and make it heard in Noph and in Tahpanhes. Say, 'Stand fast and get ready, the sword shall devour all around you. '

15Why are your mighty valiant men swept away? They did not stand because the LORD has thrust them down.

16He made many fall; yea, one fell on top of another. 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. '

17They cried there, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a big noise; he let pass the appointed time. '

18As I live," says the King Whose name is the LORD of hosts, "Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, so he shall come.

19O daughter dwelling in Egypt, get ready to go into captivity. For Noph shall be waste and desolate without inhabitant.

20Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north surely comes.

21Also her hired ones are in her midst 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 visitation.

22Its sound is like that of a serpent as it goes, for they shall go in force and come against her with axes like woodcutters.

23They shall cut down her forest," says the LORD, "though it cannot be searched; because they are more numerous than the locusts and cannot be counted.

24The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed. She shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north."

25The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says, "Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings; even Pharaoh and all who trust in him; 26And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And afterward it will be inhabited, as in the days of old," says the LORD.

27"But do not fear, O My servant Jacob, and be not afraid, O Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar off, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return and be at rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

28Do not fear, O Jacob My servant," says the LORD, "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 correct you in measure; yet I will not leave you wholly unpunished."