Isaiah 19

1 This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2 “So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

4 I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of a harsh master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

5 The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

6 The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.

7 The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more.

8 Then the fishermen will mourn, all who cast a hook into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.

9 The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale.

10 The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the hired workers will be sick at heart.

11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?

12 Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

14 The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.

15 There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm or reed.

16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.

17 The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble over what the LORD of Hosts has planned against it.

18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near her border.

20 It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them.

21 The LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and on that day Egypt will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and fulfill them.

22 And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.

23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

24 In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth.

25 The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”

1 ¶ The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom.

3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; [and] the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no [more].

8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.

9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.

10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices [and] ponds for fish.

11 Surely the princes of Zoan [are] fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I [am] the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

12 Where [are] they? where [are] thy wise [men]? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, [even they that are] the stay of the tribes thereof.

14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken [man] staggereth in his vomit.

15 Neither shall there be [any] work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.

16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.

17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

18 ¶ In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.

19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.

20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform [it].

22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal [it]: and they shall return [even] to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, [even] a blessing in the midst of the land:

25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed [be] Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

1 This is the burden of Egypt: Behold, the LORD shall ride upon a swift cloud, and come into Egypt. Then shall the idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the Egyptians' hearts shall wax faint in their flesh.

2 And I will set the Egyptians against one another; and brother shall fight against brother, and friend against friend, and city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

3 And the courage of the Egyptians among them shall perish, and their devices shall be destroyed. Then shall they ask their idols, and their priests, and their diviners, and their interpreters of signs.

4 But I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of cruel lords; and a fierce king shall reign over them, saith the LORD of hosts.

5 And the waters of the seas shall dry up, and the river shall dry up and disappear.

6 And the waters shall run down, and the lakes shall be few and dry at the dams, and the reeds and the cane shall wither away,

7 And the grass by the waters shall die, and all the seed by the waters shall wither and come to nothing.

8 And the fishermen shall mourn; and all they that cast fishing-rods into the water shall mourn; and they that let down their nets into the water shall be grieved.

9 They shall stand with shame that work good yarn, and knit nets.

10 And they that have ponds, and all they that make ponds for wages, shall be troubled.

11 The princes of Zoan are fools; the wise counsellors of Pharaoh are become fools in the council. What say ye of Pharaoh, I am the child of the wise, and come of ancient kings?

12 Where then are thy wise men? Let them tell thee, and shew thee what the LORD of hosts hath decreed for Egypt.

13 But the princes of Zoan are fools, the princes of Noph are deceived: they deceive with Egypt the cornerstone of the families.

14 For the LORD hath poured out a spirit of deceit among them, to deceive Egypt in all their doings, as a drunken man staggereth when he drinketh.

15 And Egypt shall have nothing that beareth head, or tail, or branch, or stump.

16 In that day shall Egypt be as women, and shall fear and be afraid, when the LORD of hosts shall stretch forth his hand upon her.

17 And Egypt shall be afraid of the land of Judah: and he that remembereth it shall be afraid of it, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against them.

18 In that day shall five cities of the land of Egypt speak after the language of Canaan, and swear by the LORD of hosts. One shall be called Irheres.

19 In that day shall the altar of the LORD be in the midst of the land of Egypt, and the mark of the LORD in the borders thereof,

20 Which shall be a sign and a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry unto the LORD in the presence of the insulters; and he shall send them a Saviour and a Master to deliver them.

21 For the LORD shall be known unto the Egyptians: and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall serve him with sacrifice and meat offering, and shall vow unto the LORD, and keep the vow.

22 And the LORD shall afflict the Egyptians, and heal them: for they shall turn unto the LORD, and he shall be entreated, and heal them.

23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall be a course from Egypt into Assyria, that the Assyrians shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians with the Assyrians shall serve God.

24 In that day shall Israel be third with the Egyptians and Assyrians by the blessing that shall be upon the earth.

25 For the LORD of hosts shall bless them, saying: Blessed art thou, O Egypt, my people; and thou, O Assyria, the work of my hands; and thou, O Israel, my inheritance.