1That which was the word of YHWH to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2Concerning Egypt: against the army of Pharaoh-neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3Make ready buckler and shield, and draw near to the battle.
4Harness the horses, and mount up, you horsemen, and stand forth with helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
5Why have I seen them dismayed, turned backward? And their mighty ones are beaten down, and they have fled in flight and have not turned back; terror is round about, declares YHWH.
6Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north, by the hand of the river Euphrates, they have stumbled and fallen.
7Who is this that rises up like the Nile, like the rivers whose waters toss themselves?
8Egypt rises up like the Nile, and like the rivers its waters toss themselves; and he says, "I will rise up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it."
9Go up, you horses, and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, who handle the shield, and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
10And that day belongs to my Lord (Adonai) YHWH of hosts (tzevaot), a day of vengeance, to avenge himself of his adversaries; and the sword shall devour and be satisfied and be made drunk with their blood; for there is a sacrifice for my Lord (Adonai) YHWH of hosts (tzevaot) in the land of the north by the river Euphrates.
11Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt; in vain you have multiplied medicines, there is no healing for you.
12The nations have heard your shame, and your cry has filled the earth; for the mighty man against the mighty has stumbled, together both of them have fallen.
13The word that YHWH spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, of the coming of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt.
14Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol, and proclaim in Noph and in Tahpanhes; say, "Stand forth and prepare yourself, for the sword has devoured those around you."
15Why is your strong one swept away? He did not stand, because YHWH thrust him down.
16He made many stumble; indeed, a man (ish) fell against his neighbor, and they said, "Arise, and let us return to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from before the oppressing sword."
17They cried there, "Pharaoh king of Egypt is a noise; he has let the appointed time (moed) pass by."
18As I live (chai), declares the King, YHWH of hosts (tzevaot) is his name, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, he shall come.
19Make for yourself vessels for exile, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt; for Noph shall become a desolation, and shall be laid waste, without inhabitant.
20Egypt is a very fair heifer; a gadfly out of the north has come, it has come.
21Also her hired men in her midst are like calves of the stall; for they too have turned, they have fled together, they did not stand; for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their visitation.
22Her voice goes like the serpent's; for they march with an army, and they come against her with axes, like hewers of wood.
23They have cut down her forest, declares YHWH, though it cannot be searched; for they are more than the locusts, and they are without number.
24The daughter of Egypt is put to shame; she is given into the hand of the people of the north.
25YHWH of hosts (tzevaot), the God of Israel, says, "Behold, I am visiting punishment upon Amon of No, and upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt, and upon her gods, and upon her kings, even upon Pharaoh, and upon those who trust in him;
26and I will give them into the hand of those who seek their soul (nephesh), 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, declares YHWH.
27But you, do not fear, O Jacob my servant, and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I am saving you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return and be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28You, do not fear, O Jacob my servant, declares YHWH, for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end; and I will correct you with judgment (mishpat), and I will by no means leave you unpunished.