³ “Prepare your shields,^(AX) both large and small,
    and march out for battle!
⁴ Harness the horses,
    mount the steeds!
Take your positions
    with helmets on!
Polish^(AY) your spears,
    put on your armor!^(AZ)
5 What do I see?
    They are terrified,
they are retreating,
    their warriors are defeated.
They flee^(BA) in haste
    without looking back,
    and there is terror^(BB) on every side,”
declares the Lord.
⁶ “The swift cannot flee^(BC)
    nor the strong escape.
In the north by the River Euphrates^(BD)
    they stumble and fall.^(BE)

⁷ “Who is this that rises like the Nile,
    like rivers of surging waters?^(BF)
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,^(BG)
    like rivers of surging waters.
She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
    I will destroy cities and their people.’^(BH)
9 Charge, you horses!
    Drive furiously, you charioteers!^(BI)
March on, you warriors—men of Cush^[a](BJ) and Put who carry shields,
    men of Lydia^(BK) who draw the bow.
¹⁰ But that day^(BL) belongs to the Lord, the Lord Almighty—
    a day of vengeance^(BM), for vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour^(BN) till it is satisfied,
    till it has quenched its thirst with blood.^(BO)
For the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will offer sacrifice^(BP)
    in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.^(BQ)

¹¹ “Go up to Gilead and get balm,^(BR)
    Virgin^(BS) Daughter Egypt.
But you try many medicines in vain;
    there is no healing^(BT) for you.
¹² The nations will hear of your shame;
    your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
    both will fall^(BU) down together.”

¹⁴ “Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
    proclaim it also in Memphis^(BX) and Tahpanhes:^(BY)
‘Take your positions and get ready,
    for the sword devours^(BZ) those around you.’
¹⁵ Why will your warriors be laid low?
    They cannot stand, for the Lord will push them down.^(CA)
16 They will stumble^(CB) repeatedly;
    they will fall^(CC) over each other.
They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back
    to our own people^(CD) and our native lands,
    away from the sword of the oppressor.’^(CE)
17 There they will exclaim,
    ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise;^(CF)
    he has missed his opportunity.^(CG)’

¹⁸ “As surely as I live,” declares the King,^(CH)
    whose name is the Lord Almighty,
“one will come who is like Tabor^(CI) among the mountains,
    like Carmel^(CJ) by the sea.
¹⁹ Pack your belongings for exile,^(CK)
    you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis^(CL) will be laid waste^(CM)
    and lie in ruins without inhabitant.

²⁰ “Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
    but a gadfly is coming
    against her from the north.^(CN)
21 The mercenaries^(CO) in her ranks
    are like fattened calves.^(CP)
They too will turn and flee^(CQ) together,
    they will not stand their ground,
for the day^(CR) of disaster is coming upon them,
    the time^(CS) for them to be punished.
²² Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent
    as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
    like men who cut down trees.^(CT)
23 They will chop down her forest,”
declares the Lord,
    “dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,^(CU)
    they cannot be counted.
²⁴ Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
    given into the hands of the people of the north.^(CV)”

²⁷ “Do not be afraid,^(DD) Jacob^(DE) my servant;^(DF)
    do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
    your descendants from the land of their exile.^(DG)
Jacob will again have peace and security,
    and no one will make him afraid.
²⁸ Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
    for I am with you,”^(DH) declares the Lord.
“Though I completely destroy^(DI) all the nations
    among which I scatter you,
    I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
    I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

“See how the waters are rising in the north;^(DL)
    they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
    the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
    all who dwell in the land will wail^(DM)
3 at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
    at the noise of enemy chariots^(DN)
    and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
    their hands will hang limp.^(DO)
4 For the day has come
    to destroy all the Philistines
and to remove all survivors
    who could help Tyre^(DP) and Sidon.^(DQ)
The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,^(DR)
    the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.^[b](DS)
5 Gaza will shave^(DT) her head in mourning;
    Ashkelon^(DU) will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
    how long will you cut^(DV) yourselves?

⁶ “‘Alas, sword^(DW) of the Lord,
    how long till you rest?
Return to your sheath;
    cease and be still.’^(DX)
7 But how can it rest
    when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
    to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”^(DY)