4. Your leaders have gone to Zoan, and your representatives have gone to Hanes.
5. But they will be disappointed. They are depending on a nation that cannot help them. Egypt is useless—it will not help. Egypt will bring nothing but shame and embarrassment.”
6. This is a message about the Negev animals: There is a dangerous place full of lions, adders, deadly snakes, and useless people. And there are people who load their wealth onto donkeys and their treasures on the backs of camels. They carry them to a people who cannot help.
7. That useless nation is Egypt. Egypt’s help is worth nothing, so I call Egypt the “Do-Nothing Dragon.”
8. Now write this on a sign so that all people can see it, and write this in a book. Write these things for a future time. This will be far, far in the future:
9. These people are like children who refuse to obey. They lie and refuse to listen to the Lord’S teachings.
10. They tell the prophets, “Don’t see dreams about things we should do. Don’t tell us the truth. Say nice things to us and make us feel good. See only good things for us.
11. Stop seeing things that will really happen. Get out of our way. Stop telling us about the Holy One of Israel.”
12. The Holy One of Israel says, “You people have refused to accept this message from me. You depend on fighting and lies to help you.
13. You are guilty of these things. So you are like a tall wall with cracks in it. That wall will fall and break into small pieces.
14. You will be like a large clay jar that breaks into many small, useless pieces. You cannot use them to get a hot coal from the fire or to get water from a pool in the ground.”
15. The Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says, “If you come back to me you will be saved. Only by remaining calm and trusting in me can you be strong.” But you don’t want to do that.
16. You say, “No, we need fast horses for battle.” That is true—you will need fast horses, but only to run away because your enemy will be faster than your horses.
17. One enemy soldier will make threats, and a thousand of your men will run away. And when five of them make threats, all of you will run away. The only thing that will be left of your army will be a flagpole on a hill.
18. So the Lord is waiting to show his mercy to you. He wants to rise and comfort you. The Lord is the God who does the right thing, so he will bless everyone who waits for his help.
19. You people who live in Jerusalem on Mount Zion will not continue crying. The Lord will hear your crying, and he will comfort you. When he hears you, he will help you.
20. The Lord might give you sorrow and pain like the bread and water you eat every day. But God is your teacher, and he will not continue to hide from you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
21. If you wander from the right path, either to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, “You should go this way. Here is the right way.”
22. Then you will take your idols covered with gold and silver and make them unfit to be used again. You will throw them away like filthy rags and say, “Go away!”