<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">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="poetry">For you are a protector for the poor,p> <p class="poetry">a protector for the needy in their distress,p> <p class="poetry">a shelter from the rainstorm,p> <p class="poetry">a shade from the heat.p> <p class="poetry">Though the breath of tyrants<n id="1" /> is like a winter rainstorm,<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I<n id="1" /> look for<n id="2" /> you during the night,p> <p class="poetry">my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,p> <p class="poetry">for when your judgments come upon the earth,p> <p class="poetry">those who live in the world learn about justice.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">We were pregnant, we strained,p> <p class="poetry">we gave birth, as it were, to wind.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;p> <p class="poetry">people to populate the world are not born.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> has poured out on youp> <p class="poetry">a strong urge to sleep deeply.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He has shut your eyes (the prophets),p> <p class="poetry">and covered your heads (the seers).p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;The rebellious<n id="1" /> children are as good as dead,&#8221;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;those who make plans without consulting me,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">who form alliances without consulting my Spirit,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and thereby compound their sin.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that reaches one&#8217;s neck.p> <p class="poetry">He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction.<n id="3" />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>

<p class="poetry">Each of them<n id="1" /> will be like a shelter from the windp> <p class="poetry">and a refuge from a rainstorm;p> <p class="poetry">like streams of water in a dry regionp> <p class="poetry">and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.p>

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Here is my servant whom I support,p> <p class="poetry">my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.p> <p class="poetry">I have placed my spirit on him;p> <p class="poetry">he will make just decrees<n id="2" /> for the nations.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the true God,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>, says &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the one who created the sky and stretched it out,p> <p class="poetry">the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who gives breath to the people on it,p> <p class="poetry">and life to those who live on it:<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">For I will pour water on the parched ground<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and cause streams to flow<n id="2" /> on the dry land.p> <p class="poetry">I will pour my spirit on your offspringp> <p class="poetry">and my blessing on your children.p>

<p class="poetry">Approach me! Listen to this!p> <p class="poetry">From the very first I have not spoken in secret;p> <p class="poetry">when it happens,<n id="1" /> I am there.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">So now, the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> has sent me, accompanied by his spirit.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Indeed, the <sc>Lordsc> will call you backp> <p class="poetry">like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like a young wife when she has been rejected,&#8221; says your God.p>

<p class="poetry">When you cry out for help, let your idols<n id="1" /> help you!p> <p class="poetry">The wind blows them all away,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">a breeze carries them away.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">But the one who looks to me for help<n id="4" /> will inherit the landp> <p class="poetry">and will have access to<n id="5" /> my holy mountain.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">For I will not be hostile<n id="1" /> foreverp> <p class="poetry">or perpetually angry,p> <p class="poetry">for then man&#8217;s spirit would grow faint before me,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the life-giving breath I created.p>

<p class="poetry">In the west, people respect<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s reputation;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">in the east they recognize his splendor.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For he comes like a rushing<n id="4" /> streamp> <p class="poetry">driven on by wind sent from the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">His people remembered the ancient times.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,p> <p class="poetry">along with the shepherd of<n id="2" /> his flock?p> <p class="poetry">Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them,<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">so the Spirit of the <sc>Lordsc> granted them rest.p> <p class="poetry">In this way<n id="2" /> you guided your people,p> <p class="poetry">gaining for yourself an honored reputation.<n id="3" />p>