I. Assyrian Threat*

Nebuchadnezzar Against Arphaxad.* 1It was the twelfth year* of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh. At that time Arphaxad was ruling over the Medes in Ecbatana.a 2* Around Ecbatana he built a wall of hewn stones, three cubits thick and six cubits long. He made the walls seventy cubits high and fifty cubits wide. 3At its gates he raised towers one hundred cubits high with foundations sixty cubits wide. 4He made its gates seventy cubits high and forty cubits wide to allow passage of his mighty forces, with his infantry in formation. 5At that time King Nebuchadnezzar waged war against King Arphaxad in the vast plain that borders Ragau.* 6Rallying to him were all who lived in the hill country, all who lived along the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the Hydaspes, as well as Arioch, king of the Elamites, in the plains. Thus many nations joined the ranks of the Chelodites.* b

7Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, contacted all the inhabitants of Persia* and all who lived in the west, the inhabitants of Cilicia and Damascus, Lebanon and Antilebanon, and all who lived along the seacoast, 8the peoples of Carmel, Gilead, Upper Galilee, and the vast plain of Esdraelon, 9and all in Samaria and its cities, and west of the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, Bethany, Chelous, Kadesh,c and the river of Egypt; Tahpanhes,d Raamses, all the land of Goshen, 10Tanis, Memphise and beyond, and all the inhabitants of Egypt as far as the borders of Ethiopia.

11But all the inhabitants of the whole land* made light of the summons of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, and would not join him in the war. They were not afraid of him, since he was only a single opponent. So they sent back his envoys empty-handed and disgraced.f 12Then Nebuchadnezzar fell into a violent rage against all the land, and swore by his throne and his kingdom that he would take revenge on all the territories of Cilicia, Damascus, and Syria, and would destroy with his sword all the inhabitants of Moab, Ammon, the whole of Judea, and all those living in Egypt as far as the coasts of the two seas.*

Defeat of Arphaxad. 13In the seventeenth year* he mustered his forces against King Arphaxad and was victorious in his campaign. He routed the whole force of Arphaxad, his entire cavalry, and all his chariots, 14and took possession of his cities. He pressed on to Ecbatana, took its towers, sacked its marketplaces, and turned its glory into shame. 15He captured Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau, ran him through with spears, and utterly destroyed him once and for all. 16Then he returned to Nineveh with all his consolidated forces, a very great multitude of warriors; and there he and his forces relaxed and feasted for one hundred and twenty days.g