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

⁷ “Who is this that rises like the Nile,
    like rivers of surging waters?^(AG)
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,^(AH)
    like rivers of surging waters.
She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
    I will destroy cities and their people.’^(AI)
9 Charge, you horses!
    Drive furiously, you charioteers!^(AJ)
March on, you warriors—men of Cush^[a](AK) and Put who carry shields,
    men of Lydia^(AL) who draw the bow.
¹⁰ But that day^(AM) belongs to the Lord, the Lord Almighty—
    a day of vengeance^(AN), for vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour^(AO) till it is satisfied,
    till it has quenched its thirst with blood.^(AP)
For the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will offer sacrifice^(AQ)
    in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.^(AR)

¹¹ “Go up to Gilead and get balm,^(AS)
    Virgin^(AT) Daughter Egypt.
But you try many medicines in vain;
    there is no healing^(AU) 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^(AV) down together.”

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

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

²⁰ “Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
    but a gadfly is coming
    against her from the north.^(BO)
21 The mercenaries^(BP) in her ranks
    are like fattened calves.^(BQ)
They too will turn and flee^(BR) together,
    they will not stand their ground,
for the day^(BS) of disaster is coming upon them,
    the time^(BT) 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.^(BU)
23 They will chop down her forest,”
declares the Lord,
    “dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,^(BV)
    they cannot be counted.
²⁴ Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
    given into the hands of the people of the north.^(BW)”

²⁷ “Do not be afraid,^(CE) Jacob^(CF) my servant;^(CG)
    do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
    your descendants from the land of their exile.^(CH)
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,”^(CI) declares the Lord.
“Though I completely destroy^(CJ) 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;^(CM)
    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^(CN)
3 at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
    at the noise of enemy chariots^(CO)
    and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
    their hands will hang limp.^(CP)
4 For the day has come
    to destroy all the Philistines
and to remove all survivors
    who could help Tyre^(CQ) and Sidon.^(CR)
The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,^(CS)
    the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.^[b](CT)
5 Gaza will shave^(CU) her head in mourning;
    Ashkelon^(CV) will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
    how long will you cut^(CW) yourselves?

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

⁵ Remember the wonders^(I) he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,^(J)
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,^(K)
    his chosen^(L) ones, the children of Jacob.
⁷ He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸ He remembers his covenant^(M) forever,
    the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant he made with Abraham,^(N)
    the oath he swore to Isaac.
¹⁰ He confirmed it^(O) to Jacob as a decree,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant:^(P)
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan^(Q)
    as the portion you will inherit.”^(R)

¹² When they were but few in number,^(S)
    few indeed, and strangers in it,^(T)
13 they wandered from nation to nation,^(U)
    from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress^(V) them;
    for their sake he rebuked kings:^(W)
15 “Do not touch^(X) my anointed ones;
    do my prophets^(Y) no harm.”

¹⁶ He called down famine^(Z) on the land
    and destroyed all their supplies of food;
¹⁷ and he sent a man before them—
    Joseph, sold as a slave.^(AA)
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,^(AB)
    his neck was put in irons,
¹⁹ till what he foretold^(AC) came to pass,
    till the word^(AD) of the Lord proved him true.
²⁰ The king sent and released him,
    the ruler of peoples set him free.^(AE)
21 He made him master of his household,
    ruler over all he possessed,
²² to instruct his princes^(AF) as he pleased
    and teach his elders wisdom.^(AG)

²³ Then Israel entered Egypt;^(AH)
    Jacob resided^(AI) as a foreigner in the land of Ham.^(AJ)
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;
    he made them too numerous^(AK) for their foes,
²⁵ whose hearts he turned^(AL) to hate his people,
    to conspire^(AM) against his servants.
²⁶ He sent Moses^(AN) his servant,
    and Aaron,^(AO) whom he had chosen.^(AP)
27 They performed^(AQ) his signs^(AR) among them,
    his wonders^(AS) in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness^(AT) and made the land dark—
    for had they not rebelled against^(AU) his words?
²⁹ He turned their waters into blood,^(AV)
    causing their fish to die.^(AW)
30 Their land teemed with frogs,^(AX)
    which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
³¹ He spoke,^(AY) and there came swarms of flies,^(AZ)
    and gnats^(BA) throughout their country.
³² He turned their rain into hail,^(BB)
    with lightning throughout their land;
³³ he struck down their vines^(BC) and fig trees^(BD)
    and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴ He spoke,^(BE) and the locusts came,^(BF)
    grasshoppers^(BG) without number;^(BH)
35 they ate up every green thing in their land,
    ate up the produce of their soil.
³⁶ Then he struck down all the firstborn^(BI) in their land,
    the firstfruits of all their manhood.
³⁷ He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,^(BJ)
    and from among their tribes no one faltered.
³⁸ Egypt was glad when they left,
    because dread of Israel^(BK) had fallen on them.

³⁹ He spread out a cloud^(BL) as a covering,
    and a fire to give light at night.^(BM)
40 They asked,^(BN) and he brought them quail;^(BO)
    he fed them well with the bread of heaven.^(BP)
41 He opened the rock,^(BQ) and water gushed out;
    it flowed like a river in the desert.

⁴² For he remembered his holy promise^(BR)
    given to his servant Abraham.
⁴³ He brought out his people with rejoicing,^(BS)
    his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
⁴⁴ he gave them the lands of the nations,^(BT)
    and they fell heir to what others had toiled^(BU) for—
⁴⁵ that they might keep his precepts
    and observe his laws.^(BV)

Praise the Lord.^[a](BW)