16. They stumbled again and againand fell over each other.They said, ‘Get up. Let’s go backto our own people and our homeland.We must get away from our enemy’s sword!’
17. In their homelands those soldiers called out,‘The king of Egypt is only a lot of noise.He missed his chance for glory!’ ”
18. The King’s name is the Lord All-Powerful.He says, “As surely as I live,a powerful leader will come.He will be like Mount Tabor among the mountains,like Mount Carmel by the sea.
19. People of Egypt, pack your thingsto be taken away as captives,because Memphis will be destroyed.It will be a ruin, and no one will live there.
20. “Egypt is like a beautiful young cow,but a horsefly is comingfrom the north to attack her.
21. The hired soldiers in Egypt’s armyare like fat calves,because even they all turn and run away together;they do not stand strong against the attack.Their time of destruction is coming;they will soon be punished.
22. Egypt is like a hissing snake that is trying to escape.The enemy comes closer and closer.They come against Egypt with axeslike men who cut down trees.
23. They will chop down Egypt’s armyas if it were a great forest,” says the Lord.“There are more enemy soldiers than locusts;there are too many to count.
24. The people of Egypt will be ashamed.They will be handed over to the enemy from the north.”
25. The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Very soon I will punish Amon, the god of the city of Thebes. And I will punish Egypt, her kings, her gods, and the people who depend on the king.
26. I will hand those people over to their enemies, who want to kill them. I will give them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But in the future, Egypt will live in peace as it once did,” says the Lord.
27. “People of Jacob, my servants, don’t be afraid;don’t be frightened, Israel.I will surely save you from those faraway placesand your children from the lands where they are captives.The people of Jacob will have peace and safety again,and no one will make them afraid.
28. People of Jacob, my servants, do not be afraid,because I am with you,” says the Lord.“I will completely destroy the many different nationswhere I scattered you.But I will not completely destroy you.I will punish you fairly,but I will not let you escape your punishment.”