¹² Where are your wise men^(A) now?
    Let them show you and make known
what the Lord Almighty
    has planned^(B) against Egypt.

²⁸ Where then are the gods^(A) you made for yourselves?
    Let them come if they can save you
    when you are in trouble!^(B)
For you, Judah, have as many gods
    as you have towns.^(C)

¹⁰ You have trusted^(A) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^(B)
Your wisdom^(C) and knowledge mislead^(D) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
¹¹ Disaster^(E) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly^(F) come upon you.

¹² “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,^(G)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
¹³ All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(H)
    Let your astrologers^(I) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save^(J) you from what is coming upon you.

²² “Tell us, you idols,
    what is going to happen.^(A)
Tell us what the former things^(B) were,
    so that we may consider them
    and know their final outcome.
Or declare to us the things to come,^(C)
23     tell us what the future holds,
    so we may know^(D) that you are gods.
Do something, whether good or bad,^(E)
    so that we will be dismayed^(F) and filled with fear.

¹³ Who can fathom the Spirit^[a](A) of the Lord,
    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?^(B)
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
    and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,^(C)
    or showed him the path of understanding?^(D)