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.