But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus container, coated it with asphalt and pitch, placed the child in it, and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

"Can papyrus grow where there's no marsh? Can reeds flourish without water?

Can you attach a bridle to his snout, or pierce his jaw with a hook?

So the LORD has cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in a single day

which sends envoys by the sea, in papyrus boats over the water! Go, swift messengers, to a tall, smooth-skinned nation, to a people feared far and wide, a nation that metes out punishment and oppresses, whose land the rivers divide.

As a result, there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail, palm branch or reed, can do.

the burning sands will become a pool, and the thirsty ground fountains of water. In the haunts of jackals there will be a verdant resting place with reeds and rushes."

all so that people may see and recognize, perceive, consider, and comprehend at the same time, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and that the Holy One of Israel has created it."

"Is this the kind of fast that I have chosen, merely a day for a person to humble himself? Is it merely for bowing down one's head like a bulrush, for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, an acceptable day to the LORD?

"Is this the kind of fast that I have chosen, merely a day for a person to humble himself? Is it merely for bowing down one's head like a bulrush, for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, an acceptable day to the LORD?