³ “^(F)Set up the ^[a]buckler and shield,
And advance to the battle!
⁴ Harness the horses,
And ^[b]mount the steeds,
Take your stand with helmets on!
^(G)Polish the spears,
Put on the ^(H)coats of armor!
⁵ Why have I seen it?
They are terrified,
They are ^(I)retreating,
And their ^(J)warriors are defeated
And have taken refuge in flight,
Without facing back.
^[c](K)Terror is on every side!”
Declares the Lord.
⁶ Let not the ^(L)swift man flee,
Nor the warrior escape.
In the north beside the river Euphrates
They have ^(M)stumbled and fallen.
⁷ Who is this that ^(N)rises like the Nile,
Like the rivers whose waters surge?
⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile,
And like the rivers whose waters surge;
And He has said, “I will ^(O)rise and cover that land;
I will ^(P)destroy the city and its inhabitants.”
⁹ Go up, you horses, and ^[d](Q)drive wildly, you chariots,
So that the warriors may ^[e]march forward:
^[f]Cush and ^[g](R)Put, who handle the shield,
And the ^[h](S)Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.
¹⁰ For ^(T)that day belongs to the Lord ^[i]God of armies,
A day of ^(U)vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes;
And the ^(V)sword will devour and be satisfied,
And ^[j]drink its fill of their blood;
For there will be a ^(W)slaughter for the Lord ^[k]God of armies,
In the land of the north at the river Euphrates.
¹¹ Go ^(X)up to Gilead and obtain balm,
^(Y)Virgin daughter of Egypt!
You have used many ^[l]remedies in vain;
There is ^(Z)no healing for you.
¹² The nations have heard of your ^(AA)shame,
And the earth is full of your ^(AB)cry of distress;
For one ^(AC)warrior has stumbled over ^[m]another,
And both of them have fallen down together.

¹⁴ “Declare in Egypt and proclaim in ^(AF)Migdol,
Proclaim also in Memphis and ^(AG)Tahpanhes;
Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,
For the ^(AH)sword has devoured those around you.’
¹⁵ Why have your ^(AI)powerful ones been cut down?
They do not stand because the Lord has ^(AJ)thrust them away.
¹⁶ They have repeatedly ^(AK)stumbled;
Indeed, they have fallen, one against another.
Then they said, ‘Get up, and ^(AL)let’s go back
To our own people and our native land,
Away from the ^[o](AM)sword of the oppressor!’
^17 [p]They shouted there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but ^(AN)a big noise;
He has let the appointed time pass by!’
¹⁸ As I live,” declares the ^(AO)King,
Whose name is the Lord of armies,
“One certainly shall come who is like ^(AP)Tabor among the mountains,
Or like ^(AQ)Carmel by the sea.
¹⁹ Make your baggage ready for ^(AR)exile,
^(AS)Daughter living in Egypt,
For ^(AT)Memphis will become a desolation;
It will be destroyed and ^[q]deprived of inhabitants.
²⁰ Egypt is a pretty ^(AU)heifer,
But a ^[r]horsefly is coming ^(AV)from the north—it is coming!
²¹ Also her ^(AW)mercenaries in her midst
Are like fattened ^(AX)calves,
For they too have turned away and have fled together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their disaster has come upon them,
The time of their ^(AY)punishment.
²² Its sound moves along like a serpent;
For they move on ^[s]like an army
And come to her as woodcutters with axes.
²³ They have cut down her ^(AZ)forest,” declares the Lord;
“Certainly it will no longer be found,
Even though ^[t]they are more numerous than ^(BA)locusts
And are without number.
²⁴ The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,
Turned over to the ^[u]power of the ^(BB)people of the north.”

²⁷ “But as for you, Jacob My servant, ^(BI)do not fear,
Nor be dismayed, Israel!
For, see, I am going to ^(BJ)save you from far away,
And your descendants from the land of their captivity;
And Jacob will return and be ^(BK)undisturbed
And secure, with no one making him afraid.
²⁸ Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the Lord,
“For ^(BL)I am with you.
For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations
Where I have driven you,
Yet I will ^(BM)not make a complete destruction of you;
But I will ^(BN)correct you properly
And by no means leave you unpunished.”

“Behold, waters are going to rise from ^(BQ)the north
And become an overflowing torrent,
And ^(BR)overflow the land and everything that is in it,
The city and those who live in it;
And the people will ^(BS)cry out,
And every inhabitant of the land will wail.
³ Because of the noise of the ^[x](BT)galloping hoofs of his ^[y]stallions,
The roar of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels,
The fathers have not turned back for their children,
Because of the debility of their hands,
⁴ Because of the day that is coming
To ^(BU)destroy all the Philistines,
To eliminate from ^(BV)Tyre and Sidon
Every surviving ally;
For the Lord is going to destroy the Philistines,
The remnant of the coastland of ^(BW)Caphtor.
^5 (BX)Baldness has come upon Gaza;
^(BY)Ashkelon has been destroyed.
Remnant of their valley,
How long will you ^(BZ)gash yourself?
⁶ Ah, ^(CA)sword of the Lord,
How long will you not be quiet?
Withdraw into your sheath;
Rest and stay still.
⁷ How can ^[z]it be quiet,
When the Lord has ^(CB)given it an order?
Against Ashkelon and against the sea shore—
There He has ^(CC)summoned it.”