1The word of יהוה which came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning the gentiles:

2For Mitsrayim, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neḵo, sovereign of Mitsrayim, which was by the River Euphrates in Karkemish, and which Neḇuḵaḏretstsar the sovereign of Baḇel had smitten in the fourth year of Yehoyaqim, son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah:

3“Prepare the large and the small shield, and draw near to battle!

4“Harness the horses, and mount up, you horsemen! Stand with helmets, polish the spears, put on the armour!

5“Why do I see them afraid, turned back? And their fighters are beaten down. And they have fled in haste, and did not look back, for fear was all around,” declares יהוה.

6Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. They shall stumble and fall toward the north, by the River Euphrates.

7Who is this rising like a flood, whose waters surge about like the rivers?

8Mitsrayim rises like a flood, and its waters surge about like the rivers. And he says, ‘Let me rise and cover the earth; let me destroy the city and its inhabitants.’

9Go up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! And let the mighty men go forth – Kush and Put who handle the shield, and Luḏ who handle and bend the bow.

10For this is the day of the Master יהוה of hosts, a day of vengeance, to revenge Himself on His adversaries. And the sword shall devour, and be satisfied and made drunk with their blood. For the Master יהוה of hosts has a slaughtering in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

11Go up to Gil‛aḏ and take balm, O maiden, the daughter of Mitsrayim. In vain you have used many remedies, there is no healing for you.

12Nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty has stumbled against the mighty, they have both fallen together.

13The word which יהוה spoke to Yirmeyahu the prophet, about the coming of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel, to smite the land of Mitsrayim:

14“Declare in Mitsrayim, and let it be heard in Mig̅dol. And let it be heard in Noph and in Taḥpanḥes. Say, ‘Stand fast and be prepared, for a sword shall devour all around you.’

15“Why were your strong ones swept away? They did not stand because יהוה drove them away.

16“He made many stumble; indeed, they fell over each other, and said, ‘Arise! Let us go back to our own people, and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressing sword.’

17“There they cried, ‘Pharaoh, sovereign of Mitsrayim, is but a noise. He has let the appointed time pass by!’

18“As I live,” declares the Sovereign, whose Name is יהוה of hosts, “For as Taḇor is among the mountains, and as Karmel by the sea, he shall come.

19“O you daughter dwelling in Mitsrayim, prepare yourself to go into exile! For Noph shall become a waste and a ruin, and be burned, without inhabitant.

20“Mitsrayim is like a very pretty heifer, but destruction comes, it comes from the north.

21“Her hired ones too, in her midst, are like fattened calves, for they too shall turn, they shall flee away together. They shall not stand, for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their punishment.

22“Its sound moves along like a serpent, for they move on like an army and come against her with axes, like woodcutters.

23“They shall cut down her forest,” declares יהוה, “for it is not searched, because they are more numerous than locusts, and without number.

24“The daughter of Mitsrayim shall be put to shame. She shall be given into the hand of the people of the north.”

25יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, has said, “See, I am bringing punishment on Amon of No, and on Pharaoh, and on Mitsrayim, and on their mighty ones, and on their sovereigns, and on Pharaoh and on those trusting in him.

26“And I shall give them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel and into the hand of his servants. And afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares יהוה.

27“But as for you, do not fear, O My servant Ya‛aqoḇ, and do not be discouraged, O Yisra’ĕl! For look, I am saving you from afar, and your descendants from the land of their captivity. And Ya‛aqoḇ shall return, and shall have rest and be at ease, with no one disturbing.

28“Do not fear, O Ya‛aqoḇ My servant,” declares יהוה, “for I am with you. Though I make a complete end of all the gentiles to which I have driven you, yet I do not make a complete end of youa. But I shall reprove you in right-ruling, and by no means leave you unpunished.”