Isaiah 19

1 [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].

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;

2 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.

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.

3 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.

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;

4 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.

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.

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

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

6 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).

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

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

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!

8 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].

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;

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

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

10 They will all despair and be very discouraged.

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

11 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]?

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?

12 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]!

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

13 [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).

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.

14 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.

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;

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

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

16 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].

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.

17 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.

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.

18 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’.

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!

19 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].

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;

20 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.

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.

21 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.

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.

22 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.

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.

23 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].

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.

24 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.

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

25 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.”

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.