^3 (D)“Prepare buckler and shield,
    and advance for battle!
^4 (E)Harness the horses;
    mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
    ^(F)polish your spears,
    put on your armor!
⁵ Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
    and have turned backward.
Their ^(G)warriors are beaten down
    and have fled in haste;
^(H)they look not back—
    ^(I)terror on every side!
declares the Lord.

⁶ “The swift cannot flee away,
    nor the warrior escape;
^(J)in the north by the river Euphrates
    ^(K)they have stumbled and fallen.

⁷ “Who is this, ^(L)rising like the Nile,
    like rivers ^(M)whose waters surge?
⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile,
    like rivers ^(N)whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
    I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
^9 (O)Advance, O horses,
    and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
    men of Cush and ^(P)Put who handle the shield,
    ^(Q)men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
^10 (R)That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
    ^(S)a day of vengeance,
    ^(T)to avenge himself on his foes.
^(U)The sword shall devour and be sated
    and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds ^(V)a sacrifice
    ^(W)in the north country ^(X)by the river Euphrates.
^11 (Y)Go up to Gilead, and take ^(Z)balm,
    O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
    ^(AA)there is no healing for you.
¹² The nations have heard of your shame,
    and the earth is full of your cry;
^(AB)for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
    they have both fallen together.”

¹⁴ “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in ^(AD)Migdol;
    proclaim in ^(AE)Memphis and ^(AF)Tahpanhes;
say, ^(AG)‘Stand ready and be prepared,
    for ^(AH)the sword shall devour around you.’
¹⁵ Why are your mighty ones face down?
    They do not stand^[a]
    because the Lord thrust them down.
¹⁶ He made many stumble, ^(AI)and they fell,
    and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
    and to the land of our birth,
    ^(AJ)because of the sword of the oppressor.’
¹⁷ Call the name of ^(AK)Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
    ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

^18 (AL)“As I live, declares the King,
    ^(AM)whose name is the Lord of hosts,
like ^(AN)Tabor among the mountains
    and like ^(AO)Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
^19 (AP)Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
    O ^(AQ)inhabitants of Egypt!
For ^(AR)Memphis shall become a waste,
    a ruin, ^(AS)without inhabitant.

²⁰ “A beautiful ^(AT)heifer is Egypt,
    but a biting fly ^(AU)from the north has come upon her.
²¹ Even her hired soldiers in her midst
    are like ^(AV)fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
    they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
    ^(AW)the time of their punishment.

²² “She makes ^(AX)a sound like a serpent gliding away;
    for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
    ^(AY)like those who fell trees.
^23 (AZ)They shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
    though it is impenetrable,
because ^(BA)they are more numerous than locusts;
    they are without number.
²⁴ The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
    she shall be delivered into the hand of ^(BB)a people from the north.”

^27 (BI)“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and none shall make him afraid.
^28 (BJ)Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord,
    for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
    to which I have driven you,
    but of you I will not make a full end.
^(BK)I will discipline you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

³ Yet you are ^(E)holy,
    ^(F)enthroned on ^(G)the praises^[a] of Israel.
⁴ In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they ^(H)cried and were rescued;
    in you they ^(I)trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶ But I am ^(J)a worm and not a man,
    ^(K)scorned by mankind and ^(L)despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me ^(M)mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they ^(N)wag their heads;
^8 (O)“He trusts in the Lord; let him ^(P)deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he ^(Q)delights in him!”

⁹ Yet you are he who ^(R)took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
¹⁰ On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from ^(S)my mother's womb you have been my God.
¹¹ Be not ^(T)far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is ^(U)none to help.

¹² Many bulls encompass me;
    ^(V)strong bulls of ^(W)Bashan surround me;
¹³ they ^(X)open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁴ I am ^(Y)poured out like water,
    and all my bones are ^(Z)out of joint;
my ^(AA)heart is like ^(AB)wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my strength is ^(AC)dried up like a potsherd,
    and my ^(AD)tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶ For ^(AE)dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers ^(AF)encircles me;
they have ^(AG)pierced my hands and feet^[b]—
¹⁷ I can count all my bones—
they ^(AH)stare and gloat over me;
^18 (AI)they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹ But you, O Lord, ^(AJ)do not be far off!
    O you my help, ^(AK)come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of ^(AL)the dog!
²¹     Save me from ^(AM)the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued^[c] me from the horns of ^(AN)the wild oxen!

^22 (AO)I will tell of your name to my ^(AP)brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who ^(AQ)fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, ^(AR)glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of ^(AS)the afflicted,
and he has not ^(AT)hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he ^(AU)cried to him.

²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great ^(AV)congregation;
    my ^(AW)vows I will ^(AX)perform before those who fear him.
^26 (AY)The afflicted^[d] shall ^(AZ)eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts ^(BA)live forever!

²⁷ All ^(BB)the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all ^(BC)the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
²⁸ For ^(BD)kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹ All ^(BE)the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall ^(BF)bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not ^(BG)keep himself alive.
³⁰ Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ^(BH)generation;
³¹ they shall ^(BI)come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet ^(BJ)unborn,
    that he has done it.