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.

[I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Egypt: “Listen to this! I, Yahweh, am coming to Egypt, riding on a fast-moving cloud. The idols in Egypt will tremble when [I appear], and the people of Egypt will be extremely afraid [IDM].

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 cause the people of Egypt to fight against each other: men will fight against their brothers, neighbors will fight against each other, people of one city will fight against the people of another city, people of one province will fight against the people of another province.

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.

The people of Egypt will become very discouraged, and I will cause their plans not to be successful. They will plead with idols and sorcerers and those who talk with spirits of dead people to tell them what they should do.

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.

Then I will enable someone who will treat them very cruelly to become their king [DOU].” That is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say.

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

[Some day] the water in the [Nile] River will dry up, and the riverbed will become very dry [DOU].

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

The branches of the river will all dry up [DOU] The canals along the river will stink because of the rotting reeds and (bulrushes/tall grass).

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.

All the plants along the river and all the crops will dry up; then they will blow away and disappear.

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.

The fishermen will throw into the river lines with hooks on them and nets, and then they will groan and be very discouraged; they will be sad [because there will be no fish in the river].

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

Those who weave cloth from flax will not know what to do, because there will be no thread for them to weave.

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

They will all despair and be very discouraged.

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 officials in Zoan [city in northern Egypt] are foolish. The advice that they gave to the king was worthless. Why do they continue to tell the king that they are wise, that they are descendants of wise kings who lived long ago [RHQ]?

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.

King, (where are your wise counselors now?/You have no wise counselors now!) [RHQ] If you had any wise counselors, they could tell you what the Commander of the armies of angels has planned to do to Egypt [SAR]!

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.

[Yes], the officials of Zoan have become foolish, and the leaders in Memphis [city in northern Egypt] have deceived themselves. [All] leaders of the people have (caused their people to do wrong things/led their people astray).

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.

Yahweh has caused them to be very foolish, with the result that in everything that they do, [it is as though the people of] Egypt stagger like [SIM] a drunken person staggers [and slips] in his own vomit.

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

There is no one in Egypt, rich or poor, important or unimportant, [who will be able to help them].

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 people of Egypt will be [as helpless] as [SIM] women. They will tremble, being terrified [because they know that] the Commander of the armies of angels has raised his fist, [ready to strike/punish 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 people of Egypt will be afraid of the people of Judah, and anyone who mentions Judah to them will cause them to be terrified, because [that will remind them] of what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels, is planning 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, [people in] five cities in Egypt will solemnly declare that they will serve Yahweh. They will [learn to] speak the Hebrew language. One of those cities will be called ‘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 for worshiping Yahweh in the center of Egypt, and there will be a (pillar/large rock) to honor Yahweh at the border [between Egypt and Israel].

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.

That will be a sign to indicate that the Commander of the armies of angels is worshiped in the land of Egypt. And when the people cry out to Yahweh to help them because others are (oppressing them/causing them to suffer), he will send to them someone who will defend and 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].

Yahweh will enable the people of Egypt to know who he is, and at that time they will have a close relationship with Yahweh and worship him and bring to him offerings of grain and other sacrifices. They will solemnly promise to do things for Yahweh, and they will do what they promise.

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.

After Yahweh has punished Egypt, he will cause their troubles to end. The people of Egypt will turn to Yahweh, and he will listen when they plead to him [for help], and he will cause their troubles to cease.

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 between Egypt and Assyria. [As a result], the people of Egypt will [be able to] travel [easily] to Assyria, and the people of Assyria [will be able to travel easily] to Egypt. And the people of both countries will worship [Yahweh].

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

And Israel will be their ally. All three nations will be [friendly to] each other, and the people of Israel will be a blessing to the people of the entire world.

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 Commander of the armies of angels will bless them, saying, “[You people of] Egypt are now my people. You people of Assyria, I have established your country. You people of Israel are the people whom I have chosen to belong to me.”