Isaiah 19

1 The doom of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and is coming to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved because of his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in its inward parts.

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.

2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his fellow; city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

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

3 And the spirit of Egypt shall be emptied out in its inward parts, and its counsel will I frustrate; and they will inquire of the idols, and of the charmers, and of those that have familiar spirits, and of the wizards.

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.

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

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

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

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

6 And the rivers shall become foul; and shallow and dried up shall become the deep streams: reeds and flags shall wither.

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.

7 The well-rooted plants by the stream, by the mouth of the stream, and every thing sown by the stream, shall dry up, be scattered [by the wind, ] and be no more.

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.

8 The fishermen also shall lament, and all they that cast an angle into the stream shall mourn; and they that spread nets upon the face of the waters shall languish.

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.

9 And ashamed shall be they that work in fine flax, and they that weave white cloth.

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

10 And its foundations shall be beaten down, all that build sluices shall be grieved in soul.

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

11 Surely fools are the princes of Zo'an! the wise of the counsellors of Pharaoh [impart] silly counsel: how can ye say unto Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the ancient kings?

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”?

12 Where are they, these, thy wise men? that they may tell thee now, that they know what the Lord of hosts hath resolved on over Egypt.

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

13 The princes of Zo'an are become fools, deceived are the princes of Noph; and Egypt is led astray by the chiefs of its tribes.

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

14 The Lord hath poured out in the midst thereof a spirit of perverseness: and they have led Egypt astray in all its work, as a drunkard reeleth astray in his vomit.

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.

15 And there shall not be for Egypt [successful] work, which the head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.

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

16 On that day shall Egypt be like the women: and it shall tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he waveth over it.

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

17 And the land of Judah shall become unto Egypt a terror, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be in dread, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath resolved against it.

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.

18 On that day shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing by the Lord of hosts; “The city of destruction” shall one be called.

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.

19 On that day shall there be all altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to the Lord.

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.

20 And it shall be for a sign and for a testimony unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he will send them a helper, and a chief, and he shall deliver them.

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.

21 And the Lord will be made known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord on that day, and will do service [with] sacrifice and oblation; yea, they will make vows unto the Lord and perform [them].

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.

22 And the Lord will thus strike Egypt, striking and healing it: and they will return unto the Lord, and he will be entreated of them, and heal them.

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.

23 On that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Asshur, and the Egyptians shall serve with Asshur [the Lord].

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.

24 On that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth.

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.

25 Whom the Lord of hosts will have blessed, saying, Blessed be my people Egypt, and Asshur the work of my hands, and my heritage Israel.

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