Isaiah 19

1 The burden of Egypt. Lo, Jehovah is riding on a swift thick cloud, And He hath entered Egypt, And moved have been the idols of Egypt at His presence, And the heart of Egypt melteth in its midst.

The word about Egypt. See, the Lord is seated on a quick-moving cloud, and is coming to Egypt: and the false gods of Egypt will be troubled at his coming, and the heart of Egypt will be turned to water.

2 And I armed Egyptians against Egyptians, And they fought, each against his brother, And each against his neighbour, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

And I will send the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they will be fighting every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; town against town, and kingdom against kingdom.

3 And emptied out hath been in its midst the spirit of Egypt. And its counsel I swallow up, And they have sought unto the idols, And unto the charmers, And unto those having familiar spirits, And unto the wizards.

And the spirit of Egypt will be troubled in her, and I will make her decisions without effect: and they will be turning to the false gods, and to those who make hollow sounds, and to those who have control of spirits, and to those who are wise in secret arts.

4 And I have delivered the Egyptians Into the hand of a hard lord, And a strong king doth rule over them, An affirmation of the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.

And I will give the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a hard king will be their ruler, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.

5 And failed have waters from the sea, And a river is wasted and dried up.

And the waters of the sea will be cut off, and the river will become dry and waste:

6 And they have turned away the flowings, Weak and dried up have been brooks of the bulwark, Reed and flag have withered.

And the rivers will have an evil smell; the stream of Egypt will become small and dry: all the water-plants will come to nothing.

7 Exposed things by the brook, by the edge of the brook, And every sown thing of the brook, hath withered, It hath been driven away, and is not.

The grass-lands by the Nile, and everything planted by the Nile, will become dry, or taken away by the wind, and will come to an end.

8 And lamented have the fishers, And mourned have all casting angle into a brook, And those spreading nets on the face of the waters have languished.

The fishermen will be sad, and all those who put fishing-lines into the Nile will be full of grief, and those whose nets are stretched out on the waters will have sorrow in their hearts.

9 And ashamed have been makers of fine flax, And weavers of net-works.

And all the workers in linen thread, and those who make cotton cloth, will be put to shame.

10 And its foundations have been smitten, All making wages [are] afflicted in soul.

And the makers of twisted thread will be crushed, and those who ... will be sad in heart.

11 Only, fools [are] the princes of Zoan, The counsel of the wise ones of the counsellors of Pharaoh hath become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, 'A son of the wise am I, a son of kings of antiquity?'

The chiefs of Zoan are completely foolish; the wisest guides of Pharaoh have become like beasts: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the offspring of early kings?

12 Where [are] they now, thy wise ones? Yea, let them tell to thee, I pray thee, And they know what Jehovah of Hosts hath counselled against Egypt!

Where, then, are your wise men? let them make clear to you, let them give you knowledge of the purpose of the Lord of armies for Egypt.

13 Foolish have been princes of Zoan, Lifted up have been princes of Noph, And they have caused Egypt to err, The chief of her tribes.

The chiefs of Zoan have become foolish, the chiefs of Noph are tricked, the heads of her tribes are the cause of Egypt's wandering out of the way.

14 Jehovah hath mingled in her midst A spirit of perverseness, And they have caused Egypt to err in all its work, As a drunkard erreth in his vomit.

The Lord has sent among them a spirit of error: and by them Egypt is turned out of the right way in all her doings, as a man overcome by wine is uncertain in his steps.

15 And there is no work to Egypt, That head or tail, branch or reed, may do.

And in Egypt there will be no work for any man, head or tail, high or low, to do.

16 In that day is Egypt like women, And it hath mourned, and been afraid, Because of the waving of the hand of Jehovah of Hosts, That He is waving over it.

In that day the Egyptians will be like women: and the land will be shaking with fear because of the waving of the Lord's hand stretched out over it.

17 And the land of Judah hath been to Egypt for a cause of staggering, Every one who doth mention it, for himself feareth, Because of the counsel of Jehovah of Hosts, That He is counselling against it.

And the land of Judah will become a cause of great fear to Egypt; whenever its name comes to mind, Egypt will be in fear before the Lord of armies because of his purpose against it.

18 In that day there are five cities in the land of Egypt, Speaking the lip of Canaan, And swearing to Jehovah of Hosts, 'The city of destruction,' is said of one.

In that day there will be five towns in the land of Egypt using the language of Canaan, and making oaths to the Lord of armies; and one of them will be named, The Town of the Sun.

19 In that day there is an altar to Jehovah In the midst of the land of Egypt, And a standing pillar near its border to Jehovah,

In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at the edge of the land.

20 And it hath been for a sign and for a testimony, To Jehovah of Hosts in the land of Egypt, For they cry unto Jehovah from the face of oppressors, And He sendeth to them a saviour, Even a great one, and hath delivered them.

And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt: when they are crying out to the Lord because of their cruel masters, then he will send them a saviour and a strong one to make them free.

21 And known hath been Jehovah to Egypt, And the Egyptians have known Jehovah in that day, And done sacrifice and present, And vowed a vow to Jehovah, and completed [it].

And the Lord will give the knowledge of himself to Egypt, and the Egyptians will give honour to the Lord in that day; they will give him worship with offerings and meal offerings, and will take an oath to the Lord and give effect to it.

22 And Jehovah hath smitten Egypt, smiting and healing, And they have turned back unto Jehovah, And He hath been entreated of them, And hath healed them.

And the Lord will send punishment on Egypt, and will make them well again; and when they come back to the Lord he will give ear to their prayer and take away their disease.

23 In that day is a highway out of Egypt to Asshur, And come in have the Assyrians to Egypt, And the Egyptians into Asshur, And the Egyptians have served with the Assyrians.

In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt will come into Assyria; and the Egyptians will give worship to the Lord together with the Assyrians.

24 In that day is Israel third, After Egypt, and after Asshur, A blessing in the heart of the earth.

In that day Israel will be the third together with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the earth:

25 In that Jehovah of Hosts did bless it, saying, 'Blessed [is] My people — Egypt, And the work of My hands — Asshur, And Mine inheritance — Israel!'

Because of the blessing of the Lord of armies which he has given them, saying, A blessing on Egypt my people, and on Assyria the work of my hands, and on Israel my heritage.