¹ That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations,

² For Egypt, concerning the force of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, that hath been by the river Phrat, in Carchemish, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

³ `Set ye in array shield and buckler, And draw nigh to battle.

⁴ Gird the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, And station yourselves with helmets, Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail.

⁵ Wherefore have I seen them dismayed -- They are turned backward, And their mighty ones are beaten down, And [to] a refuge they have fled, and not turned the face? Fear [is] round about -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

⁶ The swift do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, Northward, by the side of the river Phrat, They have stumbled and fallen.

⁷ Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves!

⁸ Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it.

⁹ Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling -- treading the bow.

¹⁰ And that day [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat.

¹¹ Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt, In vain thou hast multiplied medicines, Healing there is none for thee.

¹² Nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the land, For the mighty on the mighty did stumble, Together they have fallen -- both of them!'

¹³ The word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt:

¹⁴ `Declare ye in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, Yea, sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes say: Station thyself, yea, prepare for thee, For a sword hath devoured around thee,

¹⁵ Wherefore hath thy bull been swept away? He hath not stood, because Jehovah thrust him away.

¹⁶ He hath multiplied the stumbling, Yea one hath fallen upon his neighbour, And they say: Rise, and we turn back to our people, And unto the land of our birth, Because of the oppressing sword.

¹⁷ They have cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt [is] a desolation, Passed by hath the appointed time.

¹⁸ I live -- an affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name, Surely as Tabor [is] among mountains, And as Carmel by the sea -- he cometh in,

¹⁹ Goods for removal make for thee, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt, For Noph becometh a desolation, And hath been burnt up, without inhabitant.

²⁰ A heifer very fair [is] Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her.

²¹ Even her hired ones in her midst [are] as calves of the stall, For even they have turned, They have fled together, they have not stood, For the day of their calamity hath come on them, The time of their inspection.

²² Its voice as a serpent goeth on, For with a force they go, And with axes they have come in to her, As hewers of trees.

²³ They have cut down her forest, An affirmation of Jehovah -- for it is not searched, For they have been more than the grasshopper, And they have no numbering.

²⁴ Ashamed hath been the daughter of Egypt, She hath been given into the hand of the people of the north.

²⁵ Said hath Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after Amon of No, And after Pharaoh, and after Egypt, And after her gods, and after her kings, And after Pharaoh, and after those trusting in him,

²⁶ And I have given them into the hand of those seeking their life, And into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of his servants, And afterwards it is inhabited, As [in] days of old -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

²⁷ And thou, thou dost not fear, my servant Jacob, Nor [art] thou dismayed, O Israel, For lo, I am saving thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, And Jacob hath turned back, And hath been at rest, and been at ease, And there is none disturbing.

²⁸ Thou, thou dost not fear, My servant Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah -- for with thee I [am], For I make an end of all the nations Whither I have driven thee, And of thee I do not make an end, And I have reproved thee in judgment, And do not entirely acquit thee!'

¹ If thou dost turn back, O Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah, unto Me turn back, And if thou dost turn aside Thine abominations from My face, Then thou dost not bemoan.

² And thou hast sworn -- Jehovah liveth, In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, And blessed themselves in Him have nations, And in Him they boast themselves.

³ For thus said Jehovah, To the man of Judah, and to Jerusalem: Till for yourselves tillage, And do not sow unto the thorns.

⁴ Be circumcised to Jehovah, And turn aside the foreskins of your heart, O man of Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury go out as fire, and hath burned, And there is none quenching, Because of the evil of your doings.

⁵ Declare in Judah, and in Jerusalem sound, And say ye, `Blow a trumpet in the land,' Call ye fully, and say ye: `Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced city.'

⁶ Lift up an ensign Zionward, Strengthen yourselves, stand not still, For evil I am bringing in from the north, And a great destruction.

⁷ Gone up hath a lion from his thicket, And a destroyer of nations hath journeyed, He hath come forth from his place To make thy land become a desolation, Thy cities are laid waste, without inhabitant.

⁸ For this, gird on sackcloth, lament and howl, For the fierce anger of Jehovah hath not turned back from us.

⁹ And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah: `Perish doth the heart of the king, And the heart of the princes, And astonished have been the priests, And the prophets do wonder.'

¹⁰ And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, Surely thou hast entirely forgotten this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace is for you, And struck hath a sword unto the soul!'

¹¹ At that time it is said of this people, And of Jerusalem: `A dry wind of high places in the wilderness,' The way of the daughter of My people, (Not for winnowing, nor for cleansing,)

¹² A full wind from these doth come for Me, Now, also, I speak judgments with them.

¹³ Lo, as clouds he cometh up, And as a hurricane his chariots, Lighter than eagles have been his horses, Wo to us, for we have been spoiled.

¹⁴ Wash from evil thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, Till when dost thou lodge in thy heart Thoughts of thy strength?

¹⁵ For a voice is declaring from Dan, And sounding sorrow from mount Ephraim.

¹⁶ Make ye mention to the nations, Lo, sound ye to Jerusalem: `Besiegers are coming from the land afar off, And they give forth against cities of Judah their voice.

¹⁷ As the keepers of a field They have been against her round about, For with Me she hath been rebellious, An affirmation of Jehovah.'

¹⁸ Thy way and thy doings have done these to thee, This [is] thy vexation, for [it is] bitter, For it hath struck unto thy heart.

¹⁹ My bowels, my bowels! I am pained [at] the walls of my heart, Make a noise for me doth My heart, I am not silent, For the voice of a trumpet I have heard, O my soul -- a shout of battle!

²⁰ Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, For spoiled hath been all the land, Suddenly spoiled have been my tents, In a moment -- my curtains.

²¹ Till when do I see an ensign? Do I hear the voice of a trumpet?

²² For my people [are] foolish, me they have not known, Foolish sons [are] they, yea, they [are] not intelligent, Wise [are] they to do evil, And to do good they have not known.

²³ I looked [to] the land, and lo, waste and void, And unto the heavens, and their light is not.

²⁴ I have looked [to] the mountains, And lo, they are trembling. And all the hills moved themselves lightly.

²⁵ I have looked, and lo, man is not, And all fowls of the heavens have fled.

²⁶ I have looked, and lo, The fruitful place [is] a wilderness, And all its cities have been broken down, Because of Jehovah, Because of the fierceness of His anger.

²⁷ For thus said Jehovah: All the land is a desolation, but a completion I make not.

²⁸ For this doth the land mourn, And black have been the heavens above, because I have spoken -- I have purposed, And I have not repented, Nor do I turn back from it.

²⁹ From the voice of the horseman, And of him shooting with the bow, all the city is fleeing, They have come into thickets, And on cliffs they have gone up, All the city is forsaken, And there is no one dwelling in them.

³⁰ And thou, O spoiled one, what dost thou? For thou puttest on scarlet, For thou adornest thyself [with] ornaments of gold. For thou rendest with pain thine eyes, In vain thou dost make thyself fair, Kicked against thee have doting ones, Thy life they do seek.

³¹ For a voice as of a sick woman I have heard, Distress, as of one bringing forth a first-born, The voice of the daughter of Zion, She bewaileth herself, she spreadeth out her hands, `Wo to me now, for weary is my soul of slayers!'