⁴ A sword shall come upon Egypt,
    and anguish shall be in Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
    and its wealth is carried away,
    and its foundations are torn down.^(A)

⁹ Advance, O horses,
    and dash madly, O chariots!
Let the warriors go forth:
    Cush and Put, who carry the shield,
    the Ludim, who draw^[a] the bow.^(A)
10 That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
    a day of retribution,
    to gain vindication from his foes.
The sword shall devour and be sated
    and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice
    in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.^(B)

18 Woe, land of buzzing^[a] wings
    beyond the rivers of Cush,^(A)
2 sending ambassadors by the Nile
    in vessels of papyrus on the waters!
Go, you swift messengers,
    to a nation tall and smooth,
to a people feared near and far,
    a nation mighty^[b] and conquering,
    whose land the rivers divide.^(B)

²⁰ You are my war club, my weapon of battle:
with you I smash nations;
    with you I destroy kingdoms;^(A)
21 with you I smash the horse and its rider;
    with you I smash the chariot and the charioteer;
²² with you I smash man and woman;
    with you I smash the old man and the boy;
with you I smash the young man and the girl;^(B)
23     with you I smash shepherds and their flocks;
with you I smash farmers and their teams;
    with you I smash governors and deputies.

⁶ Ah, sword of the Lord!
    How long until you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
    rest and be still!^(A)
7 How can it^[a] be quiet,
    when the Lord has given it an order?
Against Ashkelon and against the seashore—
    there he has appointed it.^(B)

³ For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.^(A)

⁵ They come from a distant land,
    from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
    to destroy the whole earth.^(A)