into Syria to recover the lost provinces. Neco met him on the Euphrates.
A great battle was fought at Carchemish between the forces of Egypt and
Babylon, in which the former suffered a terrible defeat. We have no
historical account of it, but may gratefully accept, instead, the
prophetic description of Jeremiah:--

"Order ye the buckler and the shield, and draw ye near to battle;
Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen,
and stand forth with your helmets;
Furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed, and turned away backward?
And their mighty ones are beaten down, and fled apace,
and look not behind them;
For fear is round about, saith Jehovah.
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty men escape;
They shall stumble and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
Who is this that cometh up as a flood [like the Nile],
whose waters are moved as the rivers?
Egypt rises up as a flood [like the Nile],
and his waters are moved as the rivers;
And he saith, I will go up, and I will cover the earth;
I will destroy the city, with its inhabitants.
Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots;
and let the mighty men come forth;
Cush and Phut, that handle the shield,
and Lud that handles and bends the bow.
For this is the day of the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
a day of vengeance, that he may smite his foes;
And the sword shall devour, and be made satiate and drunk with blood;
For the Lord, the Lord of Hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country,