Isaiah 31:1-3

Egypt Will Disappoint

31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ¹ 

those who rely on war horses,

and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ² 

and in their many, many horsemen. ³ 

But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ⁴ 

and do not seek help from the Lord.

31:2 Yet he too is wise ⁵  and he will bring disaster;

he does not retract his decree. ⁶ 

He will attack the wicked nation, ⁷ 

and the nation that helps ⁸  those who commit sin. ⁹ 

31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;

their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.

The Lord will strike with ¹⁰  his hand;

the one who helps will stumble

and the one being helped will fall.

Together they will perish. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 42:14

42:14 You must not say, ‘No, we will not stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we will not face war, ¹²  or hear the enemy’s trumpet calls, ¹³  or starve for lack of food.’ ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 17:15

17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family ¹⁵  rebelled against the king of Babylon ¹⁶  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

[31:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ² tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ³ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[31:2]  ⁵ sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.

[31:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”

[31:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”

[31:2]  ⁸ sn That is, Egypt.

[31:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”

[31:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”

[42:14]  ¹² tn Heb “see [or experience] war.”

[42:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “hear the sound of the trumpet.” The trumpet was used to gather the troops and to sound the alarm for battle.

[42:14]  ¹⁴ tn Jer 42:13-14 are a long complex condition (protasis) whose consequence (apodosis) does not begin until v. 15. The Hebrew text of vv. 13-14 reads: 42:13 “But if you say [or continue to say (the form is a participle)], ‘We will not stay in this land’ with the result that you do not obey [or “more literally, do not hearken to the voice of] the Lord your God, 42:14 saying, ‘No, but to the land of Egypt we will go where we…and there we will live,’ 42:15 now therefore hear the word of the Lord…” The sentence has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to maintain the contingencies and the qualifiers that are in the longer Hebrew original.

[17:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.