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17 Our eyes failed, ever watching
    vainly for help;
we were watching eagerly
    for a nation that could not save.(A)

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16 The Egyptians[a] shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel; they will recall their iniquity when they turned to them for aid. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 29.16 Heb It

Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know
    that I am the Lord,
because you[a] were a staff of reed
    to the house of Israel;(A)
when they grasped you with the hand, you broke
    and tore all their shoulders,
and when they leaned on you, you broke
    and made all their legs give way.[b](B)

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Footnotes

  1. 29.6 Gk Syr Vg: Heb they
  2. 29.7 Syr: Heb stand

And they shall be dismayed and confounded because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast.(A)

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The king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken over all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Wadi of Egypt to the River Euphrates.(A)

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19 I called to my lovers,
    but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
    perished in the city
while seeking food
    to revive their lives.(A)

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Jerusalem remembers[a] all the precious things
    that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy
    and there was no one to help her,
the enemy looked on;
    they mocked over her downfall.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 1.7 Q ms: MT adds in the days of her affliction and wandering

Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: This is what you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: Pharaoh’s army, which set out to help you, is going to return to its own land, to Egypt.(A) And the Chaldeans shall return and fight against this city; they shall take it and burn it with fire.(B) Thus says the Lord: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away.(C) 10 Even if you defeated the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you and there remained of them only wounded men in their tents, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.(D)

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20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
    and we are not saved.”

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36 Why do you go about so much
    to change your way?
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
    as you were put to shame by Assyria.(A)

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18 What then do you gain by going to Egypt,
    to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria,
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?(A)

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Alliance with Egypt Is Futile

31 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
    and who rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
    and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
    or consult the Lord!(A)
Yet he is wise and can bring disaster;
    he does not depart from his words
but will rise against the house of the evildoers
    and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.(B)
The Egyptians are human and not God;
    their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
    the helper will stumble, and the one helped will fall,
    and they will all perish together.(C)

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The Futility of Reliance on Egypt

30 Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord,
who carry out a plan but not mine;
who make an alliance but against my will,
    adding sin to sin;(A)
who set out to go down to Egypt
    without asking for my counsel,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
    and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt.(B)
Therefore the protection of Pharaoh shall become your shame,
    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt your humiliation.(C)
For though his officials are at Zoan
    and his envoys reach Hanes,(D)
everyone comes to shame
    through a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
    only shame and disgrace.(E)

An oracle concerning the animals of the Negeb.

Through a land of trouble and distress,
    of lioness and roaring[a] lion,
    of viper and flying serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys
    and their treasures on the humps of camels
    to a people that cannot profit them.(F)
For Egypt’s help is worthless and empty;
    therefore I have called her,
    “Rahab who sits still.”[b](G)

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Footnotes

  1. 30.6 Cn: Heb from them
  2. 30.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain