⁴¹ ‘Behold,^(A) you despisers,
Marvel and perish!
For I work a work in your days,
A work which you will by no means believe,
Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”

⁹ “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord,
“That the heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder.”

¹¹ Surely the princes of ^(A)Zoan are fools;
Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.
^(B)How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?”
^12 (C)Where are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the Lord of hosts has ^(D)purposed against Egypt.
¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools;
^(E)The princes of ^[a]Noph are deceived;
They have also ^[b]deluded Egypt,
Those who are the ^[c]mainstay of its tribes.
¹⁴ The Lord has mingled ^(F)a perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵ Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which ^(G)the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.

‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

¹⁰ “Make ^(B)the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
^(C)Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”