For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.

For, lo, they are gone because of destruction - to escape from the devastation of their country.

Egypt shall gather them up - i:e., into its sepulchres (; ). Instead of returning to Palestine, they should die in Egypt.

Memphis shall bury them - famous as a necropolis. The Egyptian mamphta, or 'dwelling of Phta,' the Greek Hephoestus. In it was the court of the idol-bull Apis, the original of Jeroboam's calf. The house of their idol, for which they forsook God, was to be their tomb. Near it is situated the modern Cairo.

The pleasant places for their silver - i:e., their desired treasuries for their money. Or, 'whatever precious thing they have of silver' (Maurer).

Nettles - the sign of desolation (). Nettles - the sign of desolation ().

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