Isaiah
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Isaiah 19

Message to Egypt

1The [a]oracle concerning Egypt.

Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
2 “So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
3 “Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confound their strategy,
So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead
And to [b]mediums and spiritists.
4 “Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master,
And a [c]mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord [d]God of hosts.

5 The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
6 The [e]canals will emit a stench,
The [f]streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
The reeds and rushes will rot away.
7 The bulrushes by the Nile, by the [g]edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
8 And the fishermen will lament,
And all those who cast a [h]line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will [i]pine away.
9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white cloth will be [j]utterly dejected.
10 And [k]the pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

11 The princes of [l]Zoan are mere fools;
The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become [m]stupid.
How can you men say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?
12 Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them [n]understand what the Lord of hosts
Has purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of [o]Zoan have acted foolishly,
The princes of Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes
Have [p]led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of distortion;
They have led Egypt astray in all [q]that it does,
As a drunken man [r]staggers in his vomit.
15 There will be no work for Egypt
Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.

16 In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. 17 The land of Judah will become a [s]terror to Egypt; everyone [t]to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is purposing against them.

18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of [u]Destruction.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord near its border. 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a [v]Champion, and He will deliver them. 21 Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them.

23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 19:1 Or burden of
  2. Isaiah 19:3 Or ghosts and spirits
  3. Isaiah 19:4 Or fierce
  4. Isaiah 19:4 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  5. Isaiah 19:6 Lit rivers
  6. Isaiah 19:6 Or Nile branches; i.e. the delta
  7. Isaiah 19:7 Or mouth
  8. Isaiah 19:8 Lit hook
  9. Isaiah 19:8 Or languish
  10. Isaiah 19:9 Lit ashamed
  11. Isaiah 19:10 Lit her pillars or, her weavers
  12. Isaiah 19:11 Or Tanis
  13. Isaiah 19:11 Or brutish
  14. Isaiah 19:12 Or know
  15. Isaiah 19:13 Or Tanis
  16. Isaiah 19:13 Or have caused Egypt to stagger
  17. Isaiah 19:14 Lit its work
  18. Isaiah 19:14 Or goes astray
  19. Isaiah 19:17 Or cause of shame
  20. Isaiah 19:17 Lit who mentions it will be in dread to it
  21. Isaiah 19:18 Some ancient mss and versions read the Sun
  22. Isaiah 19:20 Lit Mighty One
Isaiah 19