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Oracle of Judgment on Egypt

19 An oracle of Egypt:

Look! Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud
    and is coming to Egypt.
And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him,
    and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts.
“And I will stir up Egyptians[a] against Egyptians,[b]
    and each one will fight against his brother
and each one against his neighbor,
    city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
And the spirit of the Egyptians[c] will be disturbed in his midst,
    and I will confuse[d] his plans,[e]
and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
    and the ghosts and the spiritists.
And I will hand over the Egyptians[f] into the hand of a hard master,
    and a powerful king will rule over them,”
declares[g] the Lord Yahweh of hosts.
And the waters will be dried up from the sea,
    and the river will be parched and dry.
And the rivers will become foul-smelling;
    the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up;
    reed and rush will wither.
Bare places by the Nile will be dried up,
    by the edge of the Nile and all the sown land of the Nile;
    it will be driven about, and it will be no more.[h]
And the fishers will mourn,
    and all of those who cast fishhooks[i] in the Nile will lament,
    and those who spread out fishing nets[j] on the surface[k] of the water will languish.
And the workers of combed flax will be ashamed,
    and those who weave white linen.
10 And her weavers will be crushed;
    all the hired workers[l] will be grieved of heart.
11 Surely the princes of Zoan are foolish;
    the wise of the counselors of Pharaoh give senseless counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I myself am a son of sages,
    a descendant[m] of ancient kings”?
12 Where are your sages then?
    Now, let them tell you,
    and let them know what Yahweh of hosts has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become foolish;
    the princes of Memphis are deceived;
    the leaders of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
14 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of confusion into her midst,
    and they have caused Egypt to stagger in all of its doings,
        as when a drunkard staggers[n] in his vomit.
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt to do,[o]
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.

The Future Blessing of Egypt, Assyria, and Egypt

16 On that day, Egypt will be like women, and will tremble and be afraid before the waving hand of Yahweh of hosts that he is waving against it. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it will be afraid in himself because of the plan of Yahweh of hosts that he is planning against him.

18 On that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language[p] of Canaan and swear an oath to Yahweh of hosts. One will be called “City of the Sun.”

19 On that day, there will be an altar for Yahweh in in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a stone pillar for Yahweh at her border. 20 And it will be a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to Yahweh because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and a defender,[q] and he will deliver them. 21 And Yahweh will make himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know Yahweh on that day, and they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows[r] to Yahweh, and they will fulfill them. 22 And Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing; and they will return to Yahweh, and he will respond to their prayer, and he will heal them.

23 On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt will worship together with Assyria.

24 On that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, “May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 19:2 Literally “Egypt”
  2. Isaiah 19:2 Literally “Egypt”
  3. Isaiah 19:3 Literally “Egypt”
  4. Isaiah 19:3 Literally “engulf”
  5. Isaiah 19:3 Hebrew “plan”
  6. Isaiah 19:4 Literally “Egypt”
  7. Isaiah 19:4 Literally “declaration of”
  8. Isaiah 19:7 Literally “there is none of it”
  9. Isaiah 19:8 Hebrew “fishhook”
  10. Isaiah 19:8 Hebrew “net”
  11. Isaiah 19:8 Literally “face”
  12. Isaiah 19:10 Literally “workers of wage”
  13. Isaiah 19:11 Literally “son”
  14. Isaiah 19:14 Literally “the staggering of a drunkard”
  15. Isaiah 19:15 Literally “not it will be for Egypt a deed which he can do”
  16. Isaiah 19:18 Literally “lip”
  17. Isaiah 19:20 Literally “contender”
  18. Isaiah 19:21 Hebrew “vow”

A Prophecy Against Egypt

19 A prophecy(A) against Egypt:(B)

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud(C)
    and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    and the hearts of the Egyptians melt(D) with fear.

“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—
    brother will fight against brother,(E)
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city,
    kingdom against kingdom.(F)
The Egyptians will lose heart,(G)
    and I will bring their plans(H) to nothing;(I)
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
    the mediums and the spiritists.(J)
I will hand the Egyptians over
    to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king(K) will rule over them,”
    declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

The waters of the river will dry up,(L)
    and the riverbed will be parched and dry.(M)
The canals will stink;(N)
    the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.(O)
The reeds(P) and rushes will wither,(Q)
    also the plants(R) along the Nile,
    at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field(S) along the Nile
    will become parched, will blow away and be no more.(T)
The fishermen(U) will groan and lament,
    all who cast hooks(V) into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
    will pine away.
Those who work with combed flax(W) will despair,
    the weavers of fine linen(X) will lose hope.
10 The workers in cloth will be dejected,
    and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

11 The officials of Zoan(Y) are nothing but fools;
    the wise counselors(Z) of Pharaoh give senseless advice.(AA)
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am one of the wise men,(AB)
    a disciple of the ancient kings”?

12 Where are your wise men(AC) now?
    Let them show you and make known
what the Lord Almighty
    has planned(AD) against Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan(AE) have become fools,
    the leaders of Memphis(AF) are deceived;
the cornerstones(AG) of her peoples
    have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has poured into them
    a spirit of dizziness;(AH)
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
    as a drunkard staggers(AI) around in his vomit.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do—
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.(AJ)

16 In that day(AK) the Egyptians will become weaklings.(AL) They will shudder with fear(AM) at the uplifted hand(AN) that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified,(AO) because of what the Lord Almighty is planning(AP) against them.

18 In that day(AQ) five cities(AR) in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance(AS) to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.[a](AT)

19 In that day(AU) there will be an altar(AV) to the Lord in the heart of Egypt,(AW) and a monument(AX) to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness(AY) to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior(AZ) and defender, and he will rescue(BA) them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge(BB) the Lord. They will worship(BC) with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them.(BD) 22 The Lord will strike(BE) Egypt with a plague;(BF) he will strike them and heal them. They will turn(BG) to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal(BH) them.

23 In that day(BI) there will be a highway(BJ) from Egypt to Assyria.(BK) The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship(BL) together. 24 In that day(BM) Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria,(BN) a blessing[b](BO) on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless(BP) them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people,(BQ) Assyria my handiwork,(BR) and Israel my inheritance.(BS)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 19:18 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls, Symmachus and Vulgate; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text City of Destruction
  2. Isaiah 19:24 Or Assyria, whose names will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or Assyria, who will be seen by others as blessed