Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent, for the enemy will advance in force; with axes they will come against her like woodsmen cutting down trees.
Parallel translations
- WEB It’s sound will go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
- KJV The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
- NKJV Her noise shall go like a serpent, For they shall march with an army And come against her with axes, Like those who chop wood.
- NASB “Its sound moves along like a serpent; For they move on like an army And come to her as woodcutters with axes.
- NLT Egypt flees, silent as a serpent gliding away. The invading army marches in; they come against her with axes like woodsmen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Egypt, once mighty, hisses and retreats like a fleeing serpent as Babylon's army advances against her with axes.
Overview
In the oracle against Egypt, the once-proud nation is reduced to a snake slithering away, while invaders come like woodcutters to fell her. The image conveys how thoroughly the LORD humbles human power. It anticipates the gospel truth that every earthly kingdom falls before God's purposes, while Christ's kingdom alone endures.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 14:8Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
- Isa 29:4You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust.
- Isa 10:15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- Mic 1:8Because of this I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.
- Isa 37:24Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
- Zech 11:2Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!
- Jer 51:20–23“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Isa 10:33–34Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
- Mic 7:16Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 46:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.