Jeremiah 46:22

²⁰ Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.

²¹ Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them— the time of their punishment.

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.

²³ They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD, dense though it may be, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.

²⁴ The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: 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.
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.
WEB: Its sound will go like the serpent, for they will march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
ASV: The sound thereof shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
DARBY: Her voice shall go like a serpent's; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
BLB: Her noise [is] like a serpent [that] goes away, for with a force they go, and with axes they come against her, like those chopping down trees.

ÅB: Dets røst skal lyde som ormens; for med en hær drar de[^3] fram, og med økser kommer de mot det som tømmerhuggere.
OTB: Hennes lyd vil bevege seg som en flyktende slange når fienden rykker frem med makt; de vil komme mot henne med økser, som menn som feller trær.
B1930: Dets røst skal lyde som ormens; for med en hær drar de frem, og med økser kommer de mot det som tømmerhuggere. / < fiendene.>

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 29:4
You 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.
Read in context
Isaiah 37:24
Through 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.
Read in context
Jeremiah 51:20–23
“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
Read in context
Isaiah 14:8
Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
Read in context
Isaiah 10:15
Does 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!
Read in context
Micah 1:8
Because of this I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.
Read in context
Isaiah 10:33–34
Behold, 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.
Read in context
Micah 7:16
Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
Read in context