Isaiah 19:1–17
19 An oracle of Egypt:
Look! Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud
and is coming to Egypt.
And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him,
and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts.
2 “And I will stir up ⌊Egyptians⌋a against ⌊Egyptians⌋,b
and each one will fight against his brother
and each one against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of ⌊the Egyptians⌋c will be disturbed in his midst,
and I will ⌊confuse⌋d his plans,e
and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
and the ghosts and the spiritists.
4 And I will hand over ⌊the Egyptians⌋f into the hand of a hard master,
and a powerful king will rule over them,”
⌊declares⌋g the Lord Yahweh of hosts.
5 And the waters will be dried up from the sea,
and the river will be parched and dry.
6 And the rivers will become foul-smelling;
the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up;
reed and rush will wither.
7 Bare places by the Nile will be dried up,
by the edge of the Nile and all the sown land of the Nile;
it will be driven about, and ⌊it will be no more⌋.h
and all of those who cast fishhooksi in the Nile will lament,
and those who spread out fishing netsj on the ⌊surface⌋k of the water will languish.
9 And the workers of combed flax will be ashamed,
and those who weave white linen.
10 And her weavers will be crushed;
all the ⌊hired workers⌋l will be grieved of heart.
11 Surely the princes of Zoan are foolish;
the wise of the counselors of Pharaoh give senseless counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I myself am a son of sages,
a ⌊descendant⌋m of ancient kings”?
Now, let them tell you,
and let them know what Yahweh of hosts has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become foolish;
the princes of Memphis are deceived;
the leaders of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
14 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of confusion into her midst,
and they have caused Egypt to stagger in all of its doings,
as ⌊when a drunkard staggers⌋n in his vomit.
15 And ⌊there will be nothing for Egypt to do⌋,o
head or tail, palm branch or reed.
The Future Blessing of Egypt, Assyria, and Egypt
16 On that day, Egypt will be like women, and will tremble and be afraid before the waving hand of Yahweh of hosts that he is waving against it. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it will be afraid in himself because of the plan of Yahweh of hosts that he is planning against him.