Proclamation Against Egypt

19 The aburden 1against Egypt.

Behold, the Lord brides on a swift cloud,

And will come into Egypt;

cThe idols of Egypt will 2totter at His presence,

And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.

2 “I will dset Egyptians against Egyptians;

Everyone will fight against his brother,

And everyone against his neighbor,

City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst;

I will destroy their counsel,

And they will econsult the idols and the charmers,

The mediums and the sorcerers.

4 And the Egyptians I will give

fInto the hand of a cruel master,

And a fierce king will rule over them,”

Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

5 gThe waters will fail from the sea,

And the river will be wasted and dried up.

6 The rivers will turn foul;

The brooks hof defense will be emptied and dried up;

The reeds and rushes will wither.

7 The papyrus reeds by 3the River, by the mouth of the River,

And everything sown by the River,

Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.

8 The fishermen also will mourn;

All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,

And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.

9 Moreover those who work in ifine flax

And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;

10 And its foundations will be broken.

All who make wages will be troubled of soul.

11 Surely the princes of jZoan are fools;

Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.

kHow do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,

The son of ancient kings?”

12 lWhere are they?

Where are your wise men?

Let them tell you now,

And let them know what the Lord of hosts has mpurposed against Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan have become fools;

nThe princes of 4Noph are deceived;

They have also 5deluded Egypt,

Those who are the 6mainstay of its tribes.

14 The Lord has mingled oa perverse spirit in her midst;

And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,

As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt,

Which pthe head or tail,

Palm branch or bulrush, may do.

16 In that day Egypt will qbe like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, rwhich He waves over it. 17 And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has sdetermined against it.