ISAIAH 31 [†] Woe to  v those who go down to Egypt for help

and rely on horses,

who  w trust in chariots because they are many

and in horsemen because they are very strong,

but  x do not look to the Holy One of Israel

or consult the LORD!

2[†] And  y yet he is wise and brings disaster;

 z he does not call back his words,

but  a will arise against the house of the evildoers

and against the helpers of  b those who work iniquity.

3[†] The Egyptians are man, and not God,

and their horses  c are flesh, and not spirit.

When the LORD stretches out his hand,

the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,

and they will all perish together.

4[†] For thus the LORD said to me,

 d “As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,

and when a band of shepherds is called out against him

he is not terrified by their shouting

or daunted at their noise,

 e so the LORD of hosts will come down

to fight [1] on Mount Zion and on its hill.

5[^]  f Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts

will protect Jerusalem;

he will protect and deliver it;

he will spare and rescue it.”

6[†] g Turn to him from whom people [2] have  h deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7For in that day  i everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.

8[†]  j “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;

and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;

and he shall flee from the sword,

and his young men shall be  k put to forced labor.

9[†]  l His rock shall pass away in terror,

and his officers desert the standard in panic,”

declares the LORD, whose  m fire is in Zion,

and whose  n furnace is in Jerusalem.