²⁶ The Lord had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free,^(A) was suffering;^[a](B) there was no one to help them.^(C)

⁷ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire^(A) of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched^(B) out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.^(C)