Daily Bread: Monday, Apr 22, 2024

³ “Prepare your shields,^(G) both large and small,
    and march out for battle!
⁴ Harness the horses,
    mount the steeds!
Take your positions
    with helmets on!
Polish^(H) your spears,
    put on your armor!^(I)
5 What do I see?
    They are terrified,
they are retreating,
    their warriors are defeated.
They flee^(J) in haste
    without looking back,
    and there is terror^(K) on every side,”
declares the Lord.
⁶ “The swift cannot flee^(L)
    nor the strong escape.
In the north by the River Euphrates^(M)
    they stumble and fall.^(N)

⁷ “Who is this that rises like the Nile,
    like rivers of surging waters?^(O)
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,^(P)
    like rivers of surging waters.
She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
    I will destroy cities and their people.’^(Q)
9 Charge, you horses!
    Drive furiously, you charioteers!^(R)
March on, you warriors—men of Cush^[a](S) and Put who carry shields,
    men of Lydia^(T) who draw the bow.
¹⁰ But that day^(U) belongs to the Lord, the Lord Almighty—
    a day of vengeance^(V), for vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour^(W) till it is satisfied,
    till it has quenched its thirst with blood.^(X)
For the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will offer sacrifice^(Y)
    in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.^(Z)

¹¹ “Go up to Gilead and get balm,^(AA)
    Virgin^(AB) Daughter Egypt.
But you try many medicines in vain;
    there is no healing^(AC) for you.
¹² The nations will hear of your shame;
    your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
    both will fall^(AD) down together.”

¹⁴ “Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
    proclaim it also in Memphis^(AG) and Tahpanhes:^(AH)
‘Take your positions and get ready,
    for the sword devours^(AI) those around you.’
¹⁵ Why will your warriors be laid low?
    They cannot stand, for the Lord will push them down.^(AJ)
16 They will stumble^(AK) repeatedly;
    they will fall^(AL) over each other.
They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back
    to our own people^(AM) and our native lands,
    away from the sword of the oppressor.’^(AN)
17 There they will exclaim,
    ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise;^(AO)
    he has missed his opportunity.^(AP)’

¹⁸ “As surely as I live,” declares the King,^(AQ)
    whose name is the Lord Almighty,
“one will come who is like Tabor^(AR) among the mountains,
    like Carmel^(AS) by the sea.
¹⁹ Pack your belongings for exile,^(AT)
    you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis^(AU) will be laid waste^(AV)
    and lie in ruins without inhabitant.

²⁰ “Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
    but a gadfly is coming
    against her from the north.^(AW)
21 The mercenaries^(AX) in her ranks
    are like fattened calves.^(AY)
They too will turn and flee^(AZ) together,
    they will not stand their ground,
for the day^(BA) of disaster is coming upon them,
    the time^(BB) for them to be punished.
²² Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent
    as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
    like men who cut down trees.^(BC)
23 They will chop down her forest,”
declares the Lord,
    “dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,^(BD)
    they cannot be counted.
²⁴ Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
    given into the hands of the people of the north.^(BE)”