<p class="poetry">The Egyptians will panic,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and I will confuse their strategy.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,p> <p class="poetry">from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master;p> <p class="poetry">a powerful king will rule over them,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the sovereign master,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies.p>

<p class="poetry">But where, oh where, are your wise men?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them tell you, let them find outp> <p class="poetry">what the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies has planned for Egypt.p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> has made them undiscerning;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they lead Egypt astray in all she does,p> <p class="poetry">so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">At that time<n id="1" /> the Egyptians<n id="2" /> will be like women.<n id="3" /> They will tremble and fear because the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies brandishes his fist against them.<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">At that time five cities<n id="1" /> in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun.<n id="2" />

It<n id="1" /> will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies. When they cry out to the <sc>Lordsc> because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender<n id="3" /> who will rescue them.

The <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession,<n id="2" /> Israel!&#8221;p>

Later the <sc>Lordsc> explained, &#8220;In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush,

<p class="bodytext">At that time<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> will shake the tree,<n id="2" /> from the Euphrates River<n id="3" /> to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites.<n id="4" />

At that time<n id="1" /> a large<n id="2" /> trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost<n id="3" /> in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in<n id="4" /> the land of Egypt. They will worship the <sc>Lordsc> on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;p> <p class="poetry">their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> will strike with<n id="1" /> his hand;p> <p class="poetry">the one who helps will stumblep> <p class="poetry">and the one being helped will fall.p> <p class="poetry">Together they will perish.<n id="2" />p>

Certainly you will not refuse one of my master&#8217;s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">For I am the <sc>Lordsc> your God,p> <p class="poetry">the Holy One of Israel,<n id="1" /> your deliverer.p> <p class="poetry">I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,p> <p class="poetry">Ethiopia and Seba<n id="2" /> in place of you.p>

<p class="poetry">For this is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt;p> <p class="poetry">Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.p>

<p class="bodytext">So<n id="1" /> here is what the sovereign master, the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies, says: &#8220;My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did.<n id="2" />

At that time<n id="1" /> the sovereign master<n id="2" /> will again lift his hand<n id="3" /> to reclaim<n id="4" /> the remnant of his people<n id="5" /> from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros,<n id="6" /> Cush,<n id="7" /> Elam, Shinar,<n id="8" /> Hamath, and the seacoasts.<n id="9" />p>

The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies is planning to do to them.<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">those who rely on war horses,p> <p class="poetry">and trust in Egypt&#8217;s many chariots<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and in their many, many horsemen.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and do not seek help from the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The profit<n id="1" /> of Egypt and the revenue<n id="2" /> of Ethiopia,p> <p class="poetry">along with the Sabeans, those tall men,p> <p class="poetry">will be brought to you<n id="3" /> and become yours.p> <p class="poetry">They will walk behind you, coming along in chains.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">They will bow down to youp> <p class="poetry">and pray to you:<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Truly God is with<n id="6" /> you; he has no peer;<n id="7" />p> <p class="poetry">there is no other God!&#8217;&#8221;p>