Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses. Nor shall we say any more to the work of our hands, Our gods, for in You the fatherless finds mercy.
And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Jehovah your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped out of your hand.
You have seen it; for You behold mischief and vexation, to repay it with Your hand. The poor commits himself to You; You are the Helper of the fatherless.
By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he makes all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in pieces, the Asherahs and sun-pillars shall not stand up.
But you said, No; for we will flee on a horse. Therefore you shall flee. And you said, We will ride on the swift; therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and lean on horses and trust in chariots, because it is great; and in horsemen, because they are so very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor do they seek Jehovah!
And Egypt is a man, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not Spirit. When Jehovah shall stretch out His hand, both he who helps shall fall, and he who is helped shall fall down, and they shall all cease together.
Now then, please exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses if you are able on your part to set riders on them for you.
Nor shall they be defiled with their idols, even with their filthy idols, nor with all of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in them where they sinned, and will cleanse them. And they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be to them for God.
Ephraim feeds on wind and follows after the east wind. He daily multiplies lies and cruelty. And they make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
And now they sin more and more, and have made themselves a molten image of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.
My people seek advice from their wooden idols, and their rod declares to them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to go astray, and they have gone lusting away from under their God.
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to the Assyrian and sent to King Jareb. Yet he could not heal you nor cure you of your wound.
And it shall be in that day, says Jehovah of Hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall be remembered no more. And also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, so as to multiply horses, because Jehovah has said to you, You shall return no more that way from now on.