¹ “Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; ² who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh`s protection, to Egypt`s shade for refuge. ³ But Pharaoh`s protection will be to your shame, Egypt`s shade will bring you disgrace. ⁴ Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes, ⁵ everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.” ⁶ A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys` backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation, ⁷ to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing. ⁸ Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.