1In the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned over the Assyrians in Nineveh, the great city, during the days of Arphaxad, who reigned over the Medes in Ecbatana.
2He built walls around Ecbatana of hewn stones, three cubits wide and six cubits long. He made the height of the wall seventy cubits and its width fifty cubits.
3He set its towers upon its gates, one hundred cubits high, and laid their foundations to a width of sixty cubits.
4And he made its gates, which rose to a height of seventy cubits and a width of forty cubits, for the exit of his mighty forces and for the marshalling of his infantry.
5In those days King Nebuchadnezzar made war against King Arphaxad in the great plain, which is in the territory of Ragau.
6And all the inhabitants of the hill country came to meet him, along with all who lived by the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the Hydaspes, and Arioch, king of the Elymaeans, in the plain. And many nations gathered for the battle line of the sons of Cheleul.
7Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, sent messengers to all the inhabitants of Persia and to all who lived in the west: those in Cilicia and Damascus, Lebanon and Antilibanus, and all who lived along the seacoast,
8and to those among the peoples of Carmel and Gilead, and in upper Galilee and the great plain of Esdraelon,
9and to all those in Samaria and its cities, and beyond the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, and to Betane, Chelous, Kadesh, and the river of Egypt, and to Tahpanhes, Rameses, and all the land of Goshen,
10as far as the region of Tanis and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt as far as the borders of Ethiopia.
11But all the inhabitants of the whole land scorned the command of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, and did not join him for the war. For they did not fear him but saw him as just one man among them. And they sent his messengers back from their presence empty-handed and in disgrace.
12Then Nebuchadnezzar became exceedingly angry with this whole land, and he swore by his throne and by his kingdom that he would surely take vengeance on all the territories of Cilicia, Damascus, and Syria, and destroy with his sword all the inhabitants of Moab, the sons of Ammon, all of Idumea, and all those in Egypt, as far as the borders of the two seas.
13In the seventeenth year he drew up his forces for battle against King Arphaxad; and he prevailed in the war and overthrew the entire army of Arphaxad, all his cavalry, and all his chariots.
14He took control of his cities, came as far as Ecbatana, seized its towers, plundered its public squares, and turned its beauty into a disgrace.
15He captured Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau, pierced him with his javelins, and utterly destroyed him on that day.
16Then he returned with them, he and his army, and there they rested for one hundred and twenty days.
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