Isaiah 19

1 The oracle on Egypt: Lo! Yahweh, riding upon a swift cloud, and he will enter Egypt, And the idols of Egypt shall shake at his presence, And, the heart of Egypt, shall melt within him;

THE VISION OF EGYPT. Behold, the Lord sits on a swift cloud, and shall come to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and their heart shall faint within them.

2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, And they shall fight—Every one against his brother and Every one against his neighbour, —City against city, and Kingdom against kingdom.

And the Egyptians shall be stirred up against the Egyptians: and a man shall fight against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, and law against law.

3 And the spirit of Egypt, shall vanish, within them, Yea the sagacity thereof, will I swallow up, —And they will seek Unto the idols and Unto them that mutter, and Unto them that have familiar spirits, and Unto the wizards;

And the spirit of the Egyptians shall be troubled within them; and I will frustrate their counsel: and they shall enquire of their gods and their images, and them that speak out of the earth, and them that have in them a divining spirit.

4 And I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord, —And a fierce king shall rule over them, Declareth the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of men, of cruel lords; and cruel kings shall rule over them: thus saith the Lord of hosts.

5 And the waters shall be dried up from the great stream, —And the River, shall waste and be dry;

And the Egyptians shall drink the water that is by the sea, but the river shall fail, and be dried up.

6 And rivers, shall stink, The canals of Egypt be shallow and waste, Reed and rush, be withered;

And the streams shall fail, and the canals of the river; and every reservoir of water shall be dried up, in every marsh also of reed and papyrus.

7 The meadows by the Nile, by the mouth of the Nile. And all that is sown in the Nile, Shall be dry, driven away, and not be!

And all the green herbage round about the river, and everything sown by the side of the river, shall be blasted with the wind and dried up.

8 Then shall the fishers, lament, And all shall mourn who cast in the Nile a hook, —And they who spread nets on the face of the waters shall languish;

And the fishermen shall groan, and all that cast a hook into the river shall groan; they also that cast nets, and the anglers shall mourn.

9 Then shall turn pale The workers in combed flax, —and The weavers of white linen;

And shame shall come upon them that work fine flax, and them that make fine linen.

10 Then shall her pillars be crushed, —All who make wages, be bowed down in soul.

And they that work at them shall be in pain, and all that make beer shall be grieved, and be pained in their souls.

11 Surely, foolish, are the princes of Zoan, the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh, in counsel are brutish, —How can ye say unto Pharaoh, Son of the wise, am I Son of the kings of olden time?

And the princes of Tanis shall be fools: [as for] the king's wise counsellors, their counsel shall be turned into folly: how will ye say to the king, we are sons of wise men, sons of ancient kings?

12 Where then are thy wise men? Pray let them tell thee! And let them know what Yahweh of hosts hath purposed on Egypt!

Where are now thy wise men? and let them declare to thee, and say, What has the Lord of hosts purposed upon Egypt?

13 Doting are the princes of Zoan, Deceived are the princes of Noph: They who are the corner-stone of her tribes, have led Egypt astray.

The princes of Tanis have failed, and the princes of Memphis are lifted up [with pride], and they shall cause Egypt to wander by tribes.

14 Yahweh, hath infused in her midst, a spirit of perverseness, —And they have led Egypt astray into all his own doings, As a drunken man staggereth into his own vomit;

For the Lord has prepared for them a spirit of error, and they have caused Egypt to err in all their works, as one staggers who is drunken and vomits also.

15 And Egypt shall have nothing which can be done, Which head or tail, palm-top or rush, can do!

And there shall be no work to the Egyptians, which shall make head or tail, or beginning or end.

16 In that day, shall Egypt be like unto women, —And shall start and tremble because of the brandishing of the hand of Yahweh of hosts, which he is about to brandish over it.

But in that day the Egyptians shall be as women, in fear and in trembling because of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shall bring upon them.

17 Then shall the soil of Judah become, to Egypt, a terror; Every one to whom it is mentioned, will tremble, —Because of the purpose of Yahweh of hosts, which he is purposing against it.

And the land of the Jews shall be for a terror to the Egyptians: whosoever shall name it to them, they shall fear, because of the counsel which the Lord of hosts has purposed concerning it.

18 In that day, shall there be five cities in the land of Egypt Speaking the language of Canaan, And swearing unto Yahweh of hosts, —The city of destruction, shall be the name of one!

In that day there shall be five cities in Egypt speaking the language of Chanaan, and swearing by the name of the Lord of hosts; one city shall be called the city of Asedec.

19 In that day, shall there be An altar unto Yahweh, in the midst of the land of Egypt, —And a pillar near the boundary thereof unto Yahweh;

In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians, and a pillar to the Lord by its border.

20 And it shall become a sign and a witness unto Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt, —For they will make outcry unto Yahweh, because of oppressors, That he would send them a saviour—and a great one Then will he deliver them.

And it shall be for a sign to the Lord for ever in the land of Egypt: for they shall presently cry to the Lord by reason of them that afflict them, and he shall send them a man who shall save them; he shall judge and save them.

21 Then will, Yahweh, make himself known, to the Egyptians, So shall the Egyptians know, Yahweh, in that day, —And they will offer a sacrifice and a present And will vow a vow unto Yahweh and will perform.

And the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day; and they shall offer sacrifices, and shall vow vows to the Lord, and pay [them].

22 And Yahweh, will plague Egypt, plague and heal, —And they will turn unto Yahweh And he will be entreated of them and will heal them.

And the Lord shall smite the Egyptians with a stroke, and shall completely heal them: and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall hear them, and thoroughly heal them.

23 In that day, shall there be a highway. from Egypt to Assyria, And, the Assyrians, shall come into Egypt, And, the Egyptians, into Assyria; And, the Egyptians shall serve, with the Assyrians.

In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrians shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptians shall go to the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrians.

24 In that day, shall, Israel, be, a third, with Egypt and with Assyria, —A blessing in the midst of the earth:

In that day shall Israel be third with the Egyptians and the Assyrians, blessed in the land which the Lord of hosts has blessed,

25 Whom Yahweh of hosts hath blessed saying, —Blessed, be My people—the Egyptians, And the work of my hands—the Assyrians, And mine own inheritance—Israel.

saying, Blessed be my people that is in Egypt, and that is among the Assyrians, and Israel mine inheritance.