¹⁹ Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble
    is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.

⁶ All the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord,
    for to Israel you were just a staff made of reeds.
⁷ When Israel leaned on you,
    you splintered and broke
    and stabbed her in the armpit.
When she put her weight on you,
    you collapsed, and her legs gave way.

¹⁴ “One should be kind to a fainting friend,
    but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty.^[a]
15 My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook
    that overflows its banks in the spring
¹⁶     when it is swollen with ice and melting snow.
¹⁷ But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears.
    The brook vanishes in the heat.
¹⁸ The caravans turn aside to be refreshed,
    but there is nothing to drink, so they die.
¹⁹ The caravans from Tema search for this water;
    the travelers from Sheba hope to find it.
²⁰ They count on it but are disappointed.
    When they arrive, their hopes are dashed.