The Egyptians are only people, not gods
1The people of Israel will suffer.
They ask the Egyptians to help them.
They think horses can help them,
and they think a lot of war-chariots
and soldiers on horses can protect them.
They don't ask
the holy God of Israel
to help them. They don't pray to Him.
2The Lord has wisdom too.
It is not only the Egyptian people who are wise.
The Lord has punished his people.
He always does
what He said He would do.
He will punish the people
who are doing wrong,
and those who want to help bad people.
3The Egyptians are only people.
They are not gods,
and their horses are animals, not spirits.
When the Lord puts out his hand
to punish them,
the people who must help
will fall, and the people
who asked them to help will also fall.
They will all die together.
The Lord will protect Jerusalem
4The Lord told me that He will
come down to Mount_Zion
to go to war on the mountain
that belongs to Him.
He is the Lord who rules over all.
He will be like a lion
that has caught an animal
and lies down
next to the animal and roars.
The lion does not become afraid
when a lot of shepherds come
and shout and make a noise.
5The Lord will protect Jerusalem
like a bird that flies
above its nest to protect it.
He is the Lord who rules over all,
and He will come to protect and save
the people of Jerusalem.
6Israelites, you must
come back to the Lord.
You have turned away from Him.
7The time is coming
when each of you
will throw away his idols,
the idols of silver and gold that you made
when you wanted to sin.
8‘The Assyrians will die,
but it will not be people
who will kill them.
They will flee and their young men
will become slaves
and work for the enemies.
9Their best leaders will flee,
and their officers will
become afraid and run away,
and they will leave their flag behind.’
This is what the Lord says.
There is fire burning on his altar in Jerusalem.
