31 Woe to ^(A)those who go down to Egypt for help
    and rely on horses,
who ^(B)trust in chariots because they are many
    and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but ^(C)do not look to the Holy One of Israel
    or consult the Lord!
² And ^(D)yet he is wise and brings disaster;
    ^(E)he does not call back his words,
but ^(F)will arise against the house of the evildoers
    and against the helpers of ^(G)those who work iniquity.
³ The Egyptians are man, and not God,
    and their horses ^(H)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,
^(I)“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,
^(J)so the Lord of hosts will come down
    to fight^[a] on Mount Zion and on its hill.
^5 (K)Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
    will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
    he will spare and rescue it.”

^8 (O)“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 ^(P)put to forced labour.
^9 (Q)His rock shall pass away in terror,
    and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
declares the Lord, whose ^(R)fire is in Zion,
    and whose ^(S)furnace is in Jerusalem.

32 Behold, ^(T)a king will reign in righteousness,
    and princes will rule in justice.
^2 (U)Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
    a shelter from the storm,
^(V)like streams of water in a dry place,
    like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
^3 (W)Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
    and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
⁴ The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
    ^(X)and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
^5 (Y)The fool will no more be called noble,
    nor the scoundrel said to be honourable.
⁶ For ^(Z)the fool speaks folly,
    and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practise ungodliness,
    to utter error concerning the Lord,
^(AA)to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
    and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
⁷ As for the scoundrel—^(AB)his devices are evil;
    he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
    even when the plea of the needy is right.
⁸ But he who is noble plans noble things,
    and on noble things he stands.

^9 (AC)Rise up, you women ^(AD)who are at ease, hear my voice;
    you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
¹⁰ In little more than a year
    you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the grape harvest fails,
    the fruit harvest will not come.
¹¹ Tremble, you women ^(AE)who are at ease,
    shudder, you complacent ones;
^(AF)strip, and make yourselves bare,
    ^(AG)and tie sackcloth round your waist.
^12 (AH)Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
    for the fruitful vine,
^13 (AI)for the soil of my people
    growing up in thorns and briers,
^(AJ)yes, for all the joyous houses
    in the exultant city.
¹⁴ For the palace is forsaken,
    the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
    will become dens for ever,
^(AK)a joy of wild donkeys,
    a pasture of flocks;
¹⁵ until ^(AL)the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
    and ^(AM)the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
    and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
¹⁶ Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
    and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
^17 (AN)And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
    and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust^[c] for ever.
¹⁸ My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
    in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.
^19 (AO)And it will hail when the forest falls down,
    ^(AP)and the city will be utterly laid low.
^20 (AQ)Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
    who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.