Isaiah 19

1 A message about Egypt. Look, the Lord is riding on a fast-moving cloud on his way to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the Egyptians will become weak with fear.

The burden of Egypt. Behold, YHWH is riding on a swift thick cloud, And He has entered Egypt, And the idols of Egypt have been moved at His presence, And the heart of Egypt melts in its midst.

2 I will encourage Egyptians to attack other Egyptians. They will fight each other, neighbor versus neighbor, town versus town, and kingdom versus kingdom.

And I armed Egyptians against Egyptians, And they fought, each against his brother, And each against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 I will destroy the confidence of the Egyptians. I will have their plans become all mixed up. They will ask their idols and the spirits of the dead what to do through mediums and spiritists.

And the spirit of Egypt has been emptied out in its midst. And I swallow up its counsel, And they have sought to the idols, And to the charmers, And to those having familiar spirits, And to the wizards.

4 I will hand the Egyptians over to a harsh dictator. A cruel king will rule over them, declares the Lord.

And I have delivered the Egyptians Into the hand of a hard lord, And a strong king rules over them, A declaration of the Lord, YHWH of Hosts.

5 The waters of the Nile will fail, and its riverbed will be sunbaked and dry.

And waters have failed from the sea, And a river is desolated and dried up.

6 The channels will start to stink; the branches of the Nile in Egypt will dry to a trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither away.

And they have turned away the flowings, Brooks of the bulwark have been weak and dried up, Reed and flag have withered.

7 The vegetation along the banks of the Nile, and all the plants in the cultivated land along the Nile, will dry up and be blown away. Everything will be gone.

Exposed things by the brook, by the edge of the brook, And every sown thing of the brook, has withered, It has been driven away, and is not.

8 Fishermen will mourn: all of them all who use hooks to fish in the Nile will weep and wail, along with those who fish by throwing nets into the water.

And the fishers have lamented, And all casting a hook into the brook have mourned, And those spreading dragnets on the face of the waters have languished.

9 The workers who prepare the flax for linen and the weavers of white fabric will be in despair.

And makers of fine flax have been ashamed, And weavers of networks.

10 The cloth workers will be depressed, and everyone who earns a wage will feel sick inside.

And its foundations have been struck, All making wages [are] afflicted in soul.

11 The leaders of Zoan are stupid. Pharaoh's wise counselors give advice that doesn't make sense. How can you tell Pharaoh, “I myself am a wise man, descended from ancient kings”?

Only, the princes of Zoan [are] fools, The counsel of the wise ones of the counselors of Pharaoh has become brutish. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of kings of antiquity?”

12 So where are your wise counselors? Let them tell you so you can understand what the Lord Almighty has planned to do to Egypt.

Where [are] they now, your wise ones? Indeed, let them now tell [it] to you, And they know what YHWH of Hosts has counseled against Egypt!

13 The leaders of Zoan have become stupid; the leaders of Memphis have been fooled; the important leaders of Egypt have misled their people.

Princes of Zoan have been foolish, Princes of Noph have been lifted up, And they have caused Egypt to err, The chief of her tribes.

14 The Lord has mixed up a spirit of confusion for them to drink, making the Egyptians stagger around in everything they do, like a drunk slipping up on his own vomit.

YHWH has mingled in her midst A spirit of perverseness, And they have caused Egypt to err in all its work, As a drunkard errs in his vomit.

15 Nobody in Egypt can do anything, whoever they are—head or tail, palm tree or reed.

And there is no work to Egypt, That head or tail, branch or reed, may do.

16 At that time the Egyptians will become like women. They will shake with fear when the Lord Almighty raises his arm against them.

In that day Egypt is like women, And it has mourned, and been afraid, Because of the waving of the hand of YHWH of Hosts, That He is waving over it.

17 The land of Judah will be a source of terror to Egypt for whenever Judah is mentioned, all Egyptians will tremble over what the Lord Almighty has planned to do to them.

And the land of Judah has been to Egypt for a cause of staggering, Everyone who mentions it, fears for himself, Because of the counsel of YHWH of Hosts, That He is counseling against it.

18 At that time there will be five cities in Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and who have sworn to worship the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.

In that day there are five cities in the land of Egypt, Speaking the lip of Canaan, And swearing to YHWH of Hosts, “The city of destruction,” is said of one.

19 At that time there will be an altar to the Lord right in the middle of Egypt, and a stone monument to the Lord on its border.

In that day there is an altar to YHWH In the midst of the land of Egypt, And a standing pillar to YHWH near its border,

20 This will be a sign and a witness to the presence of the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord for help because they are being oppressed, he will send them a savior to fight for them and to rescue them.

And it has been for a sign and for a testimony, To YHWH of Hosts in the land of Egypt, For they cry to YHWH from the face of oppressors, And He sends a Savior to them, Even a great one, and has delivered them.

21 The Lord will make himself known to Egypt, and at that time Egypt will come to know the Lord. They will worship him with sacrifices and offerings; they will make promises to the Lord and keep them.

And YHWH has been known to Egypt, And the Egyptians have known YHWH in that day, And done sacrifice and present, And vowed a vow to YHWH, and completed [it].

22 The Lord will inflict a plague on Egypt. He will do this, but he will heal them. They will come back to the Lord. He will respond to their prayers and heal them.

And YHWH has struck Egypt, striking and healing, And they have turned back to YHWH, And He has accepted their plea, And has healed them.

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

In that day a highway is out of Egypt to Asshur, And the Assyrians have come into Egypt, And the Egyptians into Asshur, And the Egyptians have served with the Assyrians.

24 At that time Israel will be the third part of this alliance, joining with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing to the whole of the earth.

In that day Israel is third, With Egypt, and with Asshur, A blessing in the heart of the earth.

25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt, my people, Assyria, the creation of my hands, and Israel, my special possession.”

In that YHWH of Hosts blessed it, saying, “Blessed [is] My people—Egypt, And the work of My hands—Asshur, And My inheritance—Israel!”