² “Lift^(B) up a banner ^(C)on the high mountain,
Raise your voice to them;
^(D)Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
³ I have commanded My ^[b]sanctified ones;
I have also called ^(E)My mighty ones for My anger—
Those who ^(F)rejoice in My exaltation.”

⁴ The ^(G)noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts musters
The army for battle.
⁵ They come from a far country,
From the end of heaven—
The ^(H)Lord and His ^[c]weapons of indignation,
To destroy the whole ^(I)land.

⁶ Wail, ^(J)for the day of the Lord is at hand!
^(K)It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
⁷ Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man’s heart will melt,
⁸ And they will be afraid.
^(L)Pangs^[d] and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.

⁹ Behold, ^(M)the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy ^(N)its sinners from it.
¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be ^(O)darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

¹¹ “I will ^(P)punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
^(Q)I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the ^[e]terrible.
¹² I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
^13 (R)Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in ^(S)the day of His fierce anger.
¹⁴ It shall be as the hunted gazelle,
And as a sheep that no man ^[f]takes up;
^(T)Every man will turn to his own people,
And everyone will flee to his own land.
¹⁵ Everyone who is found will be thrust through,
And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
¹⁶ Their children also will be ^(U)dashed to pieces before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ^(V)ravished.

¹⁷ “Behold,^(W) I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not ^[g]regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.
¹⁸ Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.
^19 (X)And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew ^(Y)Sodom and Gomorrah.
^20 (Z)It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,
Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.
^21 (AA)But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,
And their houses will be full of ^[h]owls;
Ostriches will dwell there,
And wild goats will caper there.
²² The hyenas will howl in their citadels,
And jackals in their pleasant palaces.
^(AB)Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged.”

³ “Order^[a] the ^[b]buckler and shield,
And draw near to battle!
⁴ Harness the horses,
And mount up, you horsemen!
Stand forth with your helmets,
Polish the spears,
^(F)Put on the armor!
⁵ Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back?
Their mighty ones are beaten down;
They have speedily fled,
And did not look back,
For ^(G)fear was all around,” says the Lord.
⁶ “Do not let the swift flee away,
Nor the mighty man escape;
They will ^(H)stumble and fall
Toward the north, by the River Euphrates.

⁷ “Who is this coming up ^(I)like a flood,
Whose waters move like the rivers?
⁸ Egypt rises up like a flood,
And its waters move like the rivers;
And he says, ‘I will go up and cover the earth,
I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.’
⁹ Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots!
And let the mighty men come forth:
^[c]The Ethiopians and ^[d]the Libyans who handle the shield,
And the Lydians ^(J)who handle and bend the bow.
¹⁰ For this is ^(K)the day of the Lord God of hosts,
A day of vengeance,
That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.
^(L)The sword shall devour;
It shall be ^[e]satiated and made drunk with their blood;
For the Lord God of hosts ^(M)has a sacrifice
In the north country by the River Euphrates.

¹¹ “Go^(N) up to Gilead and take balm,
^(O)O virgin, the daughter of Egypt;
In vain you will use many medicines;
^(P)You shall not be cured.
¹² The nations have heard of your ^(Q)shame,
And your cry has filled the land;
For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty;
They both have fallen together.”

¹⁴ “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in ^(S)Migdol;
Proclaim in ^[f]Noph and in ^(T)Tahpanhes;
Say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves,
For the sword devours all around you.’
¹⁵ Why are your valiant men swept away?
They did not stand
Because the Lord drove them away.
¹⁶ He made many fall;
Yes, ^(U)one fell upon another.
And they said, ‘Arise!
^(V)Let us go back to our own people
And to the land of our nativity
From the oppressing sword.’
¹⁷ They cried there,
‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise.
He has passed by the appointed time!’

¹⁸ “As I live,” says the King,
^(W)Whose name is the Lord of hosts,
“Surely as Tabor is among the mountains
And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.
¹⁹ O ^(X)you daughter dwelling in Egypt,
Prepare yourself ^(Y)to go into captivity!
For ^[g]Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.

²⁰ “Egypt is a very pretty ^(Z)heifer,
But destruction comes, it comes ^(AA)from the north.
²¹ Also her mercenaries are in her midst like ^[h]fat bulls,
For they also are turned back,
They have fled away together.
They did not stand,
For ^(AB)the day of their calamity had come upon them,
The time of their punishment.
^22 (AC)Her noise shall go like a serpent,
For they shall march with an army
And come against her with axes,
Like those who chop wood.

²³ “They shall ^(AD)cut down her forest,” says the Lord,
“Though it cannot be searched,
Because they are innumerable,
And more numerous than ^(AE)grasshoppers.
²⁴ The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;
She shall be delivered into the hand
Of ^(AF)the people of the north.”