Look, the Lord rides on a swift cloud^(C)
and is coming to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols will tremble before Him,^(D)
and Egypt’s heart will melt within it.^(E)
2 I will provoke Egypt against Egypt;
each will fight against his brother^(F)
and each against his friend,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.^(G)
3 Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it,
and I will frustrate its plans.
Then they will seek idols, ghosts,
spirits of the dead, and spiritists.^(H)
4 I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh masters,^(I)
and a strong king will rule it.
This is the declaration of the Lord God of Hosts.

⁵ The waters of the sea will dry up,
and the river will be parched and dry.
⁶ The channels will stink;
they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched.
Reed and rush will die.^[a]
7 The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river,
and all the cultivated areas of the Nile
will wither, blow away, and vanish.
⁸ Then the fishermen will mourn.
All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament,
and those who spread nets on the water will shrivel up.
⁹ Those who work with flax will be dismayed;^(J)
the combers and weavers will turn pale.^[b]
10 Egypt’s weavers^[c] will be dejected;
all her wage earners will be demoralized.

¹¹ The princes of Zoan are complete fools;^(K)
Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice!
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one^[d] of the wise,
a student of eastern^[e] kings”?
¹² Where then are your wise men?
Let them tell you and reveal
what the Lord of Hosts has planned against Egypt.
¹³ The princes of Zoan have been fools;
the princes of Memphis are deceived.^(L)
Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.
¹⁴ The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of confusion.
The leaders have made Egypt stagger in all she does,
as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵ No head or tail, palm or reed,^(M)
will be able to do anything for Egypt.

³ Deploy small shields^(D) and large;
draw near for battle!
⁴ Harness the horses;
mount the steeds;^[a]
take your positions with helmets on!
Polish the lances;
put on armor!^(E)
5 Why have I seen this?
They are terrified,
they are retreating,
their warriors are crushed,
they flee headlong,
they never look back,
terror is on every side!^(F)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
⁶ The swift cannot flee,
and the warrior cannot escape!
In the north by the bank of the Euphrates River,
they stumble and fall.^(G)

⁷ Who is this, rising like the Nile,^(H)
like rivers whose waters churn?
⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile,
and its waters churn like rivers.
He boasts, “I will go up, I will cover the earth;
I will destroy cities with their residents.”
⁹ Rise up, you cavalry!
Race furiously, you chariots!
Let the warriors go out—
Cush and Put,^(I)
who are able to handle shields,
and the Ludim,^(J)
who are able to handle and string the bow.^(K)
10 That day belongs to the Lord, the God of Hosts,
a day of vengeance to avenge Himself
against His adversaries.
The sword will devour and be satisfied;
it will drink its fill of their blood,
because it will be a sacrifice^(L) to the Lord, the God of Hosts,
in the northern land by the Euphrates River.

¹¹ Go up to Gilead and get balm,^(M)
Virgin Daughter Egypt!
You have multiplied remedies in vain;
there is no healing for you.
¹² The nations have heard of your dishonor,^(N)
and your outcry fills the earth,
because warrior stumbles against warrior
and together both of them have fallen.

¹⁴ Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol!^(P)
Proclaim it in Memphis and in Tahpanhes!
Say: Take positions! Prepare yourself,
for the sword devours all around you.^(Q)
15 Why have your strong ones been swept away?
Each has not stood,
for the Lord has thrust him down.
¹⁶ He continues to stumble.^(R)
Indeed, each falls over the other.
They say, “Get up! Let’s return to our people
and to the land of our birth,
away from the sword that oppresses.”^(S)
17 There they will cry out,
“Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise;
he let the opportune moment pass.”

¹⁸ As I live—
this is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.^(T)
He will come like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea.
¹⁹ Get your bags ready for exile,
inhabitant of Daughter Egypt!^(U)
For Memphis will become a desolation,
uninhabited ruins.

²⁰ Egypt is a beautiful young cow,^(V)
but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.^[b](W)
21 Even her mercenaries among her
are like stall-fed calves.
They too will turn back;
together they will flee;
they will not take their stand,
for the day of their calamity is coming on them,
the time of their punishment.^(X)
22 Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake,^[c]
for the enemy will come with an army;
with axes they will come against her
like those who cut trees.^(Y)
23 They will cut down her forest—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
though it is dense,
for they are more numerous than locusts;
they cannot be counted.^(Z)
24 Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
handed over to a northern people.^(AA)

Wail:^(A) Woe for the day!
³ For a day is near;
a day belonging to the Lord is near.^(B)
It will be a day of clouds,^(C)
a time of doom for the nations.
⁴ A sword will come against Egypt,
and there will be anguish in Cush
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and its wealth is taken away,
and its foundations are torn down.
⁵ Cush, Put, and Lud,^(D)
and all the various foreign troops,^[a]
plus Libya^[b] and the men of the covenant land^[c]
will fall by the sword along with them.
⁶ This is what the Lord says:
Those who support Egypt will fall,
and its proud strength will collapse.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall within it by the sword.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
⁷ They will be desolate
among^[d] desolate lands,
and their cities will lie
among ruined^[e] cities.^(E)
8 They will know that I am Yahweh
when I set fire to Egypt^(F)
and all its allies are shattered.

I will put an end to the hordes^[f] of Egypt
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
¹¹ He along with his people,
ruthless men from the nations,
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.^(H)
12 I will make the streams dry
and sell the land into the hands of evil men.^(I)
I will bring desolation
on the land and everything in it
by the hands of foreigners.
I, Yahweh, have spoken.

I will destroy the idols and put an end
to the false gods in Memphis.^(J)
There will no longer be
a prince from the land of Egypt.
So I will instill fear in that land.
¹⁴ I will make Pathros^(K) desolate,
set fire to Zoan,
and execute judgments on Thebes.
¹⁵ I will pour out My wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and will wipe out the crowds^[g] of Thebes.
¹⁶ I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in anguish,
Thebes will be breached,
and Memphis will face foes in broad daylight.^[h]
17 The young men of On^[i] and Pi-beseth
will fall by the sword,
and those cities^[j] will go into captivity.
¹⁸ The day will be dark^[k] in Tehaphnehes,
when I break the yoke of Egypt there
and its proud strength
comes to an end in the city.
A cloud^(L) will cover Tehaphnehes,^[l]
and its villages will go into captivity.
¹⁹ So I will execute judgments against Egypt,
and they will know that I am Yahweh.

Who are you like in your greatness?
³ Think of Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon,^(Q)
with beautiful branches and shady foliage
and of lofty height.
Its top was among the clouds.^[m]
4 The waters caused it to grow;
the underground springs made it tall,
directing their rivers all around
the place where the tree was planted
and sending their channels
to all the trees of the field.
⁵ Therefore the cedar became greater in height
than all the trees of the field.^(R)
Its branches multiplied,
and its boughs grew long
as it spread them out
because of the plentiful water.^(S)
6 All the birds of the sky
nested in its branches,^(T)
and all the animals of the field
gave birth beneath its boughs;
all the great nations lived in its shade.
⁷ It was beautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its limbs,
for its roots extended to abundant water.
⁸ The cedars in God’s garden could not rival it;^(U)
the pine trees couldn’t compare with its branches,
nor could the plane trees match its boughs.
No tree in the garden of God
could compare with it in beauty.
⁹ I made it beautiful with its many limbs,
and all the trees of Eden,
which were in God’s garden, envied it.

You compare yourself to a lion of the nations,
but^[u] you are like a monster^(AE) in the seas.
You thrash about in your rivers,
churn up the waters with your feet,
and muddy the^[v] rivers.”

I will spread My net over you^(AF)
with an assembly of many peoples,
and they^[w] will haul you up in My net.
⁴ I will abandon you on the land
and hurl you on the open field.
I will cause all the birds of the sky
to settle on you
and let the beasts of the entire earth
eat their fill of you.^(AG)
5 I will put your flesh on the mountains^(AH)
and fill the valleys with your carcass.
⁶ I will drench the land
with the flow of your blood,
even to the mountains;
the ravines will be filled with your gore.

⁷ When I snuff you out,
I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,^(AI)
and the moon will not give its light.
⁸ I will darken all the shining lights
in the heavens over you,
and will bring darkness on your land.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

⁹ I will trouble the hearts of many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction
among the nations,
in countries you do not know.
¹⁰ I will cause many nations to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with fear because of you^(AJ)
when I brandish My sword in front of them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment^(AK) for his life.

The sword of Babylon’s king
will come against you!
¹² I will make your hordes fall
by the swords of warriors,
all of them ruthless men from the nations.^(AL)
They will ravage Egypt’s pride,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
¹³ I will slaughter all its cattle
that are beside many waters.
No human foot will churn them again,
and no cattle hooves will disturb them.^(AM)
14 Then I will let their waters settle
and will make their rivers flow like oil.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
¹⁵ When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
so that it is emptied of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am Yahweh.^(AN)

¹⁹ Who do you surpass in loveliness?
Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!
²⁰ They will fall among those slain by the sword.
A sword is appointed!^(AQ)
They drag her and all her hordes away.
²¹ Warrior leaders will speak
from the middle of Sheol
about him^[z] and his allies:
They have come down;
the uncircumcised lie
slain by the sword.^(AR)

²² Assyria is there with all her company;
her graves are all around her.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
²³ Her graves are set in the deepest regions of the Pit,
and her company is all around her burial place.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—
those who once spread terror
in the land of the living.

²⁴ Elam^(AS) is there
with all her hordes around her grave.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—
those who went down to the underworld^[aa] uncircumcised,
who once spread their terror
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
²⁵ Among the slain
they prepare a resting place for Elam
with all her hordes.
Her graves are all around her.
All of them are uncircumcised,
slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
They are placed among the slain.

²⁶ Meshech and Tubal^[ab](AT) are there,
with all their hordes.
Their graves are all around them.
All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
²⁷ They do not lie down
with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised,^[ac]
who went down to Sheol
with their weapons of war,
whose swords were placed under their heads.^[ad]
The punishment for their sins
rested on their bones,
although the terror of these warriors
was once in the land of the living.
²⁸ But you will be shattered
and will lie down among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.^(AU)

²⁹ Edom^(AV) is there, her kings and all her princes,
who, despite their strength, have been placed
among those slain by the sword.
They lie down with the uncircumcised,
with those who descend to the Pit.
³⁰ All the leaders of the north^(AW)
and all the Sidonians^(AX) are there.
They went down in shame with the slain,
despite the terror their strength inspired.
They lie down uncircumcised
with those slain by the sword.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.

³¹ Pharaoh will see them
and be comforted^(AY) over all his hordes—
Pharaoh and all his army,
slain by the sword.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

³² For I will spread My^[ae] terror
in the land of the living,
so Pharaoh and all his hordes
will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.”
This is the declaration of the Lord God.