¹⁶ Even so, he must not acquire many horses for himself or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You must never return that way again.’^(A)

Alliance with Egypt Is Futile

¹⁵ But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?^(A)

⁶⁸ The Lord will bring you back in ships to Egypt, by a route that I promised you would never see again, and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”

²⁶ Solomon gathered together chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.^{(A) 27} The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamores of the Shephelah. ²⁸ Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price.^(B)

²⁶ Solomon also had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.^(A)

³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain and go back to Egypt.”

The Pillars of Cloud and Fire

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer, for God thought, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.”^(A)