Woe to Those Relying on Egypt
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
and rely on horses,
and trust in chariots because they are many,
and in horsemen because they are very strong.
They do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
and they do not seek the Lord!
2 Yet he also is wise and will bring disaster,
and will not call back his words,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers,
and against the help of those who work iniquity.
3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God,
and their horses flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
both he who helps shall stumble,
and he who is helped shall fall,
and they all shall be consumed together.
4 For the Lord says to me,
“As the lion or the young lion roaring over his prey,
when a band of shepherds is called together against him,
he is not afraid of their shouts,
or disturbed by their noise,
so the Lord of Hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights.
5 Like birds hovering,
so the Lord of Hosts will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect and deliver it.
He will pass over and preserve it.”
6 Return to him from whom you have deeply revolted, Israelites. 7 For on that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—sin which your own hands have made for you.
8 “The Assyrian will fall by the sword, not of man,
and the sword, not of mankind, shall devour him.
He will flee from the sword,
and his young men will become subject to forced labor.
9 His rock will pass away because of terror,
and his princes will be afraid of the banner,”
says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
and his furnace in Jerusalem.