15. Why have your mighty fallen?Why haven’t they stood their ground?Because the Lord has struck them down.
16. He’s tripped them up;they fall over each other and say,"Let’s get out of hereand go home to our people,where we were born,far away from the oppressor’s sword."
17. There they call Pharaoh, Egypt’s king,Loudmouth—Nothing But Hot Air!
18. As I live, declares the king,whose name is the Lord of heavenly forces,one is comingjust as surely as Tabor is in the mountainsand Carmel is by the sea.
19. Get what you need for deportation,you inhabitants of Egypt.Memphis will be reduced to a wasteland,a ruin with no one left.
20. Egypt is a beautiful, yes, beautiful heifer,but a horsefly from the northis coming to bite her.
21. Even her mercenariesare like well-fed calves;they too will retreat and run for cover;they won’t survive.The day of disaster has come to haunt them,the time of their punishment.
22. Like the sound of a snake hissingas it slithers awayis Egypt as armies approach in force;they come against her with axes,like woodcutters.
23. They destroy her dense forest,though it is vast,because they outnumber locustsand can’t be counted,declares the Lord.
24. Daughter Egypt will be humiliated,handed over to people from the north.
25. This is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I’m going to punish Amon of Thebes, Egypt and its gods and kings, as well as Pharaoh and all who rely on him.
26. I will hand them over to those who seek to kill them, namely Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his servants. But afterward Egypt will dwell like it did a long time ago, declares the Lord.
27. But don’t be afraid, my servant Judah;don’t lose heart, Israel.I will deliver you from a faraway placeand your children from the land of their exile.My people Jacob will again be safe and sound,with no one harassing them.
28. So don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,declares the Lord.I’m with you;I will put an end to all the nationswhere I have scattered you.But I won’t put an end to you.I won’t let you avoid punishment;I will discipline you as you deserve.