1. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2. About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3. “Prepare buckler and shield,and advance for battle!
4. Harness the horses;mount, O horsemen!Take your stations with your helmets, polish your spears,put on your armor!
5. Why have I seen it?They are dismayedand have turned backward.Their warriors are beaten downand have fled in haste; they look not back— terror on every side!declares the Lord.
6. “The swift cannot flee away,nor the warrior escape; in the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen.
7. “Who is this, rising like the Nile,like rivers whose waters surge?
8. Egypt rises like the Nile,like rivers whose waters surge.He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
9. Advance, O horses,and rage, O chariots!Let the warriors go out:men of Cush and Put who handle the shield, men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
10. That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be satedand drink its fill of their blood.For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.