◄ 2 Kings 18:21 ►
Verse  (Click for Chapter)
Good News Translation
You are expecting Egypt to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick--it would break and jab your hand. That is what the king of Egypt is like when anyone relies on him."

New Revised Standard Version
See, you are relying now on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

Contemporary English Version
Is he depending on Egypt and its king? That's the same as leaning on a broken stick, and it will go right through his hand.

New American Bible
Do you trust in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it? That is what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is to all who trust in him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.

trustest.

Isaiah 36:6 Lo thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt: upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharao king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

Ezekiel 29:6,7 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord: because thou hast been a staff of a reed to the house of Israel. . . .

upon Egypt.

Isaiah 30:2,7 Who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth, hoping for help in the strength of Pharao, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt. . . .

Isaiah 31:1-3 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses, and putting their confidence in chariots, because they are many: and in horsemen, because they are very strong: and have not trusted in the Holy One of Israel, and have not sought after the Lord. . . .

so is Pharaoh.

2 Kings 17:4 And when the king of the Assyrians found that Osee, endeavouring to rebel, had sent messengers to Sua, the king of Egypt, that he might not pay tribute to the king of the Assyrians, as he had done every year, he besieged him, bound him, and cast him into prison.

Jeremiah 46:17 Call ye the name of Pharao king of Egypt, a tumult time hath brought.

Context
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
…20Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle. On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel? 21Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.22But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord, our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?…
Cross References
Isaiah 1:1
The vision of Isaiah the Son of Amos, which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda.

Isaiah 20:5
And they shall be afraid, and ashamed of Ethiopia their hope, and of Egypt their glory.

Isaiah 30:2
Who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth, hoping for help in the strength of Pharao, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt.

Isaiah 30:3
And the strength of Pharao shall be to your confusion, and the confidence of the shadow of Egypt to your shame.

Jeremiah 46:2
Against Egypt, against the army of Pharao Nechao king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Charcamis, whom Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon defeated, in the fourth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda.

Ezekiel 29:6
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord: because thou hast been a staff of a reed to the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 29:7
When they took hold of thee with the hand thou didst break, and rent all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brokest, and weakenest all their loins.

Hosea 1:1
The word of the Lord, that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joas, king of Israel.

2 Kings 18:20
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