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31. Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

¹ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
   who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
   and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
   or seek help from the LORD.
² Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster;
   he does not take back his words.
He will rise up against that wicked nation,
   against those who help evildoers.
³ But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God;
   their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the LORD stretches out his hand,
   those who help will stumble,
   those who are helped will fall;
   all will perish together.

⁴ This is what the LORD says to me:

   “As a lion growls,
   a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds
   is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
   or disturbed by their clamor—
so the LORD Almighty will come down
   to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
⁵ Like birds hovering overhead,
   the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver it,
   he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”

⁶ Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against. ⁷ For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.

    ⁸ “Assyria will fall by no human sword;
   a sword, not of mortals, will devour them.
They will flee before the sword
   and their young men will be put to forced labor.
⁹ Their stronghold will fall because of terror;
   at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,”
declares the LORD,
   whose fire is in Zion,
   whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

5. As birds that fly. This is the second comparison, by which the Prophet shews how great care the Lord takes of us, and how earnestly he is bent on making us happy. It is taken from birds, which are prompted by astonishing eagerness to preserve their young; for they almost kill themselves with hunger, and shrink from no danger, that they may defend and preserve their young. Moses makes use of the same comparison when, reproaching the people for their ingratitude, he compares the Lord to an eagle

“laying her nest, spreading her wings, and fluttering over her young.” (Deuteronomy 32:11.)

Christ also remonstrates with Jerusalem,

“How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not!”
(Matthew 23:37.)

The sum of this passage is, that the Lord will be sufficiently powerful to defend his people, for whom he has a special love and a peculiar care. What Moses relates that God did, Isaiah promises that he will always do; for he will never forsake those whom he has once received into his favor. Lest any one therefore should imagine that this statement related only to the men of a single age, he expressly declares that God will spread his wings to defend Jerusalem. Nor is it unnecessarily that he mentions not only Mount Zion but its hill; for on that “hill” was built the temple in which God desired that men should call upon him. Wherever therefore the worship of God is pure, let us know that salvation will be certain; for men cannot call upon him in vain.

“Let us be his people, and, on the other hand, he will be our God.” (Leviticus 26:12.)