A reading from the book of Jeremiah.

The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Berwick, the son of Nuraya, when he wrote these

words in a book at the Dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jeholyakim, the son of

Josiah, King of Judah.

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Barak, you said, what was me? For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest. Thus shall you say to him, thus says the Lord, behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up, that is, the whole land, and do you seek

great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh,

declares the Lord, but I will give you your life as a prize of war, and all places to which you may

go. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

About Egypt, concerning the army of Faro-Niko, King of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates

at Karkamish, and which Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, defeated in the fourth year of

Jeholyakim, the son of Josiah, King of Judah.

Prepare, buckler, and shield, and advance for battle. Harness the horses, Mount,

O horsemen. Take your stations with your helmets. Polish your spears, put on your armor.

Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and have turned backward. Their warriors are beaten down

and have fled in haste. They look not back, terror on every side, declares the Lord.

The swift cannot flee away, nor the warrior escape, in the north by the river Euphrates.

They have stumbled and fallen. Who is this? Rising like the Nile, like rivers whose water surge,

Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers whose water surge. He said, I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.

Advance, old horses, enrage, old chariots.

Let the warriors go out, men of Cush and Put, who handled the shield, men of lude, skilled

in handling the bow.

That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself

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