Isaiah 31:1–5

THE LORD, THE ONLY HELP

31Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help^a

and who depend on horses!

They trust in the abundance of chariots

and in the large number of horsemen.^b

They do not look^c to the Holy One of Israel,

and they do not seek the Lord.

²But he also is wise and brings disaster.^d

He does not go back on what he says;^e

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 prey^f

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.^g

⁵Like hovering birds,

so the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem^h;

by protecting it, he will rescue it;

by passing over it, he will deliver it.