The Lord, the Only Help

1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for helpa

and who depend on horses!

They trust in the abundance of chariots

and in the large number of horsemen.b

They do not lookc to the Holy One of Israel,

and they do not seek the Lord.

2But he also is wise and brings disaster.a

He does not go back on what he says;b

he will rise up against the house of the wicked

and against the allies of evildoers.

3Egyptians are men, not God;

their horses are flesh, not spirit.

When the Lord raises his hand to strike,

the helper will stumble

and the one who is helped will fall;

both will perish together.

4For this is what the Lord said to me:

As a lion or young lion growls over its preya

when a band of shepherds is called out against it,

and it is not terrified by their shouting

or subdued by their noise,

so the Lord of Armies will come down

to fight on Mount Zion

and on its hill.b

5Like hovering birds,

so the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem;a

by protecting it, he will rescue it;

by passing over it, he will deliver it.

6Return to the one the Israelites have greatly rebelled against.a 7For on that day, every one of you will reject the worthless idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.a

8Then Assyria will fall,

but not by human sword;

a sword will devour him,

but not one made by man.a

He will flee from the sword;

his young men will be put to forced labor.b

9His rockA will pass away because of fear,a

and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag.b

This is the Lord’s declaration — whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.c