Isaiah 19:1–17

A Message About Egypt

19Here is a message the Lord gave me about Egypt.

The Lord is coming to Egypt.

He’s riding on a cloud that moves very fast.

The statues of the gods in Egypt tremble with fear because of him.

The hearts of the people there melt away inside them.

²The Lord says, “I will stir up one Egyptian against another.

Relatives will fight against relatives.

Neighbors will fight against one another.

Cities will fight against cities.

Kingdoms will fight against one another.

³The people of Egypt will lose hope.

I will keep them from doing what they plan to do.

They will ask their gods for advice.

They will turn to the spirits of dead people for help.

They will go to people who get messages from those who have died.

They will ask for advice from people who talk to the spirits of the dead.

⁴I will hand the Egyptians over

to a mean and unkind master.

A powerful king will rule over them,” announces the Lord.

He is the Lord who rules over all.

⁵The waters of the Nile River will dry up.

The bottom of it will be cracked and dry.

⁶Its waterways will stink.

And the streams of Egypt will get smaller and smaller

until they dry up.

The tall grass that grows along the river will dry up.

⁷So will the plants along the banks of the Nile.

Even the planted fields along the Nile will dry up.

Everything that grows there will blow away and disappear.

⁸The fishermen will moan.

All those who drop hooks into the Nile will sob.

Those who throw their nets on the water

will become very sad.

⁹Those who make clothes out of flax will lose hope.

So will those who weave fine linen.

¹⁰Those who work with cloth will be unhappy.

And all those who work for money will be sick at heart.

¹¹The officials of the city of Zoan are very foolish.

Pharaoh’s wise men give advice that doesn’t make any sense.

How can they dare to say to Pharaoh,

“We’re among the wise men”?

How can they say to him,

“We’re like the advisers to the kings of long ago”?

¹²Pharaoh, where are your wise men now?

Let them tell you

what the Lord who rules over all

has planned against Egypt.

¹³The officials of Zoan have become foolish.

The leaders of Memphis have been lied to.

The most important leaders in Egypt

have led its people down the wrong path.

¹⁴The Lord has given them

a spirit that makes them feel dizzy.

They make Egypt unsteady in everything it does.

Egypt is like a person who drinks too much.

He throws up and then walks around in the mess he’s made.

¹⁵No one in Egypt can do anything to help them.

Its elders and important leaders can’t help them.

Its prophets and priests can’t do anything.

Those who rule over others can’t help.

And those who bow down to them can’t help either.

¹⁶In days to come, the people of Egypt will be as terrified as women. The Lord who rules over all will raise his hand against them. Then they will tremble with fear. ¹⁷The people of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians. Everyone in Egypt who hears the name of Judah will be terrified. That’s because of what the Lord who rules over all is planning to do to them.