Isaiah 19

1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

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 set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, [and] 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 fail in the midst of her, and I will destroy her counsel: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to 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 the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD 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 rivers shall be wasted and dried up.

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

6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; [and] the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up: the 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 paper-reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, 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 fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon 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 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave net-works shall be confounded.

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

10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices [and] ponds for fish.

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

11 Surely the princes of Zoan [are] fools, the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye to Pharaoh, I [am] the son of the wise, the son of 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? where [are] thy wise [men]? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon 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 Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, [even they that are] the support 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 mingled a perverse spirit in the midst of it: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work of it, as a drunken [man] staggereth 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 Neither shall there be [any] work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may perform.

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

16 In that day shall Egypt be like women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh 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 be a terror to Egypt, every one that maketh mention of it shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined 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 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.

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 In that day shall there be an 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 witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a savior, and a great one, 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 shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yes, they shall vow a vow to the LORD, and perform [it].

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 smite Egypt: he will smite and heal [it]: and they shall return [even] to the LORD, and he will be entreated by them, and will 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 In that day shall there be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

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 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, [even] a blessing in the midst of the land:

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 bless, saying, Blessed [be] Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.

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