Isaiah 19

Oracle of Judgment on Egypt

19An 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.

³And 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.

⁴And 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.

⁵And the waters will be dried up from the sea,

and the river will be parched and dry.

⁶And the rivers will become foul-smelling;

the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up;

reed and rush will wither.

⁷Bare 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

⁸And the fishers will mourn,

and all of those who cast fishhooksⁱ in the Nile will lament,

and those who spread out fishing nets^j on the surface^k of the water will languish.

⁹And the workers of combed flax will be ashamed,

and those who weave white linen.

¹⁰And her weavers will be crushed;

all the hired workers^l will be grieved of heart.

¹¹Surely 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”?

¹²Where are your sages then?

Now, let them tell you,

and let them know what Yahweh of hosts has planned against Egypt.

¹³The princes of Zoan have become foolish;

the princes of Memphis are deceived;

the leaders of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴Yahweh 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 staggersⁿ in his vomit.

¹⁵And there will be nothing for Egypt to do,^o

head or tail, palm branch or reed.

The Future Blessing of Egypt, Assyria, and Egypt

¹⁶On 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. ¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸On that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language^p of Canaan and swear an oath to Yahweh of hosts. One will be called “City of the Sun.”

¹⁹On that day, there will be an altar for Yahweh in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a stone pillar for Yahweh at her border. ²⁰And it will be a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to Yahweh because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and a defender,^q and he will deliver them. ²¹And Yahweh will make himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know Yahweh on that day, and they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows^r to Yahweh, and they will fulfill them. ²²And Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing; and they will return to Yahweh, and he will respond to their prayer, and he will heal them.

²³On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt will worship together with Assyria.

²⁴On that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, “May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel.”