Here is a message about Egypt: Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud and approaches Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him; the Egyptians lose their courage. ¹ 

Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! ¹  Not one of these creatures will be missing, ²  none will lack a mate. ³  For the Lord has issued the decree, ⁴  and his own spirit gathers them. ⁵ 

Their residents are powerless; ¹  they are terrified and ashamed. They are as short-lived as plants in the field or green vegetation. ²  They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops ³  when it is scorched by the east wind. ⁴ 

“Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. ¹  You delivered me ²  from the pit of oblivion. ³  For you removed all my sins from your sight. ⁴ 

Predict how future events will turn out, ¹  so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe. ² 

So he poured out his fierce anger on them, along with the devastation ¹  of war. Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; ²  it burned against them, but they did notice. ³ 

Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ¹  Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it? You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me? There is no other sheltering rock; ²  I know of none.

All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.

I will give you hidden treasures, ¹  riches stashed away in secret places, so you may recognize that I am the Lord, the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.

Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. ¹  Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it. ² 

I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, ‘My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’

For my sake alone ¹  I will act, for how can I allow my name to be defiled? ²  I will not share my glory with anyone else! ³ 

All of you, gather together and listen! Who among them ¹  announced these things? The Lord’s ally ²  will carry out his desire against Babylon; he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ³ 

Indeed,” says the Lord, “captives will be taken from a warrior; spoils will be rescued from a conqueror. I will oppose your adversary and I will rescue your children.

And now, what do we have here?” ¹  says the Lord. “Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing, those who rule over them taunt,” ²  says the Lord, “and my name is constantly slandered ³  all day long.

Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love; they, they are the object of your devotion. ¹  You pour out liquid offerings to them, you make an offering. Because of these things I will seek vengeance. ² 

Whom are you worried about? Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully and not remember me or think about me? ¹  Because I have been silent for so long, ²  you are not afraid of me. ³ 

Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: ¹  “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘Look, your deliverer comes! Look, his reward is with him and his reward goes before him!’” ² 

Therefore, as flaming fire ¹  devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust. ²  For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies, they have spurned the commands ³  of the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

¹ Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! ²  For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, ³  and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. ⁴