Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

31 Woe(A) to those who go down to Egypt(B) for help,
    who rely on horses,(C)
who trust in the multitude of their chariots(D)
    and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One(E) of Israel,
    or seek help from the Lord.(F)

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Some trust in chariots(A) and some in horses,(B)
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.(C)

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This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,(A)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.(B)

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16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses(A) for himself(B) or make the people return to Egypt(C) to get more of them,(D) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”(E)

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13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord(A) our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.(B)

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13 “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken(A) me,
    the spring of living water,(B)
and have dug their own cisterns,
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

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How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt(A) for chariots(B) and horsemen[a]?(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers

16 You said, ‘No, we will flee(A) on horses.’(B)
    Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
    Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

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This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek(A) me and live;(B)
    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,(C)
    do not journey to Beersheba.(D)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[a](E)
Seek(F) the Lord and live,(G)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;(H)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel(I) will have no one to quench it.(J)

There are those who turn justice into bitterness(K)
    and cast righteousness(L) to the ground.(M)

He who made the Pleiades and Orion,(N)
    who turns midnight into dawn(O)
    and darkens day into night,(P)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.(Q)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.

Woe to the Obstinate Nation

30 “Woe(A) to the obstinate children,”(B)
    declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
    forming an alliance,(C) but not by my Spirit,
    heaping sin upon sin;
who go down to Egypt(D)
    without consulting(E) me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,(F)
    to Egypt’s shade for refuge.(G)
But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
    Egypt’s shade(H) will bring you disgrace.(I)
Though they have officials in Zoan(J)
    and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
everyone will be put to shame
    because of a people(K) useless(L) to them,
who bring neither help(M) nor advantage,
    but only shame and disgrace.(N)

A prophecy(O) concerning the animals of the Negev:(P)

Through a land of hardship and distress,(Q)
    of lions(R) and lionesses,
    of adders and darting snakes,(S)
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’(T) backs,
    their treasures(U) on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
    to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.(V)
Therefore I call her
    Rahab(W) the Do-Nothing.

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16 No king is saved by the size of his army;(A)
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse(B) is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.

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Look, I know you are depending(A) on Egypt,(B) that splintered reed(C) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.

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Assyria cannot save us;(A)
    we will not mount warhorses.(B)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’(C)
    to what our own hands have made,(D)
    for in you the fatherless(E) find compassion.”

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All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(A)
    and none of them calls(B) on me.

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15 But the king rebelled(A) against him by sending his envoys to Egypt(B) to get horses and a large army.(C) Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?(D)

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11 You built a reservoir between the two walls(A)
    for the water of the Old Pool,(B)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard(C) for the One who planned(D) it long ago.

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At that time Hanani(A) the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied(B) on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.

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13 Woe(A) to them,
    because they have strayed(B) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me(C) falsely.(D)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(E)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[a] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,(F)
    but they turn away from me.(G)
15 I trained(H) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil(I) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(J)
    they are like a faulty bow.(K)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent(L) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(M)
    in the land of Egypt.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together

You went to Molek[a](A) with olive oil
    and increased your perfumes.(B)
You sent your ambassadors[b](C) far away;
    you descended to the very realm of the dead!(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 57:9 Or to the king
  2. Isaiah 57:9 Or idols

In that day(A) people will look(B) to their Maker(C)
    and turn their eyes to the Holy One(D) of Israel.
They will not look to the altars,(E)
    the work of their hands,(F)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[a](G)
    and the incense altars their fingers(H) have made.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
    pipes(A) and timbrels(B) and wine,
but they have no regard(C) for the deeds of the Lord,
    no respect for the work of his hands.(D)

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Their land is full of silver and gold;(A)
    there is no end to their treasures.(B)
Their land is full of horses;(C)
    there is no end to their chariots.(D)

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“Will they not return to Egypt(A)
    and will not Assyria(B) rule over them
    because they refuse to repent?(C)

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No one(A) calls on your name(B)
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden(C) your face from us
    and have given us over(D) to[a] our sins.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of

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