1. This is what the Lord told the prophet Jeremiah concerning the nations.
2. About Egypt! A message for the army of Pharaoh Neco, Egypt’s king, which was defeated by Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish near the Euphrates River in the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son:
3. Grab your shieldsand prepare for war!
4. Saddle the horses;mount the stallions!Take your positionswith helmets on!Polish your spears;put on your armor!
5. Why do I see them terrified,retreating in haste?Their soldiers are crushed,running for cover,and they don’t turn back.Panic lurks at every turn,declares the Lord.
6. The swift can’t flee;the mighty can’t escape.Up north by the Euphrates River,they stagger and fall.
7. Who is this that rises like the Nile,whose banks overflow?
8. It’s Egypt that rises like the Nile,whose banks overflow,who declares, "I will ariseand cover the earthand destroy cities and inhabitants."
9. Charge, you horses;advance, you chariots!Attack, you soldierswith your shield in hand,you people of Cush and Putwith your bow drawn,you archers from Lud.
10. But that day belongs to theLord God of heavenly forces;it’s a day of reckoning,settling scores with enemies.The sword will devouruntil it has had its fill of blood.The Lord God of heavenly forcesis preparing a sacrifice in the northby the Euphrates River.
11. Go up to Gilead and seek balm,virgin Daughter Egypt.You search out remedies in vain,for your disease is incurable.