Yesaya 31:3-4

31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;

their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.

The Lord will strike with ¹  his hand;

the one who helps will stumble

and the one being helped will fall.

Together they will perish. ² 

The Lord Will Defend Zion

31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:

“The Lord will be like a growling lion,

like a young lion growling over its prey. ³ 

Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,

it is not afraid of their shouts

or intimidated by their yelling. ⁴ 

In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ⁵ 

[31:3]  ¹ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ² tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”

[31:4]  ³ tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”

[31:4]  ⁵ tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.