5 In those days king Nebuchadnezzar made war against king Arphaxad in the great plain, which is within the borders of Ragau.

6 And all that dwelt in the hill country gathered unto him, and all that dwelt by the Euphrates, and the Tigris, and Idaspis, and Arioch king of Elymy from the plain, and a great many nations were gathered together in the army of the children of Chelehud.

7 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Assyria sent to all those who dwelt in Persia, and to all those who dwelt in the west, to those who dwelt in Cilicia, and Damascus, and Lebanon, and Antilebanon, and to all who dwelt on the front side of the sea,

8 and between the nations of Carmel and Gilead, and in the upper Galilee, and in the great plain of Esdraelon,

9 And to all that dwell in Samaria, and in the cities thereof, and beyond the Jordan to Jerusalem, and to Betani, and to Hela, and to Cadiz, and to the river of Egypt, and to Taphnah, and to Ramessa, and in all the land of Goshen

10 to the entrance into upper Tanis and Memphis, and to all who dwell in Egypt until the entrance into the borders of Ethiopia.

11 But all those who dwelt in all this land despised the word of Nebuchadnezzar king of Assyria, and did not go to him to war, because they were not afraid of him, but he was to them as one of them: they sent away his messengers from them empty-handed, in disgrace.

12 And Nebuchadnezzar was very angry with all the land, and swore by his throne and by his kingdom to avenge all the borders of Cilicia, Damascus, and Syria, and by his sword to put to death all that dwelt in the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and all Judah, and all that dwelt in Egypt before they entered into the borders of the two seas.

13 And in the seventeenth year he took up arms with his army against king Arphaxad, and overcame him in battle, and put to flight all the army of Arphaxad, and all his cavalry, and all his chariots,

14 And he took the cities thereof, and came as far as Ecbatana, and occupied the fortifications, and laid waste the streets of the city, and turned its beauty to shame.

15 And he seized Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau, and pierced him with his spear, and on the same day he destroyed him.

16 And he went back with his men to Nineveh, and he and all his allies, a great multitude of men of war; there he rested and feasted with his army for a hundred and twenty days.

Chapter 2

1 In the eighteenth year, on the twenty-second day of the first month, there followed in the house of Nebuchadnezzar king of Assyria a commandment to take vengeance, as he said, on the whole land.