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Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

31 

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who put their faith in horses,
who trust in chariots because there are many of them,
who trust in charioteers[a] because they are very powerful.
They do not trust in the Holy One of Israel.
They do not seek the Lord.
The Lord is wise, and he will bring disaster.
He will not go back on his word,
but he will deal with those who do evil,
and with those who help the wicked.
The Egyptians are merely men, not gods.
Their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand to punish,
both the helper and the one seeking help will fall.
Together they will perish.

This is what the Lord said to me:
    When a lion or a young lion snarls over its prey,
    and a band of shepherds is called out to drive it away,
    it is not afraid of their shouts,
    and it is not bothered by the noise they make.
    In the same way, the Lord of Armies will fearlessly come down
        to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights.
Like a hovering[b] bird,
the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect it and deliver it.
He will pass over it and preserve it.
O people of Israel, return to the one you have so completely betrayed. In that day every one of you will throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—things you made, which caused you to sin.

Assyria will fall, but not by a human sword.
A sword will devour him, but not one wielded by men.
He will flee from the sword,
but his young men will be forced into slavery.
His rocky stronghold will pass away because of fear,
and his officials will abandon their banner in panic,
declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
whose blast furnace is in Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 31:1 Or horsemen
  2. Isaiah 31:5 Or swooping