I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are [a]mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? Look! You are trusting in the (A)staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who (B)trust in him.

“But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?” ’

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 36:5 Lit. a word of the lips

You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel(A) against me? Look, I know you are depending(B) on Egypt,(C) that splintered reed(D) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. But if you say to me, “We are depending(E) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,(F) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?(G)

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