²² Like the sound of a snake hissing
    as it slithers away
        is Egypt^[a] as armies approach in force;
        they come against her with axes,
            like woodcutters.
²³ They destroy her dense forest,
    though it is vast,
        because they outnumber locusts
        and can’t be counted,
            declares the Lord.
²⁴ Daughter Egypt will be humiliated,
    handed over to people from the north.