A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST EGYPT

19 A pronouncementc concerning Egypt:d

Look, the Lord rides on a swift cloude

and is coming to Egypt.

Egypt’s worthless idols will tremble before him,f

and Egypt will lose heart.g

2 I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;

each will fight against his brotherh

and each against his friend,

city against city, kingdom against kingdom.i

3 Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it,

and I will frustrate its plans.

Then they will inquire of worthless idols, ghosts,

mediums, and spiritists.j

4 I will hand over Egypt to harsh masters,k

and a strong king will rule it.

This is the declaration of the Lord God of Armies.

5 The water of the sea will dry up,

and the river will be parched and dry.

6 The channels will stink;

they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched.

Reed and rush will wilt.

7 The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river,

and all the cultivated areas of the Nile

will wither, blow away, and vanish.

8 Then the fishermen will mourn.

All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament,

and those who spread nets on the water will give up.

9 Those who work with flax will be dismayed;l

those combing it and weaving linen will turn pale.E

10 Egypt’s weaversF will be dejected;

all her wage earners will be demoralized.

11 The princes of Zoan are complete fools;m

Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice!

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am oneG of the wise,

a student of easternH kings”?

12 Where then are your wise men?

Let them tell you and reveal

what the Lord of Armies has planned against Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan have been fools;

the princes of Memphis are deceived.a

Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.

14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of confusion.

The leaders have made Egypt stagger in all she does,

as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.

15 No head or tail, palm or reed,b

will be able to do anything for Egypt.