Isaiah 17–20

A Prophecy Against Damascus

17A prophecy^b against Damascus:^c

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city

but will become a heap of ruins.^d

²The cities of Aroer^e will be deserted

and left to flocks,^f which will lie down,^g

with no one to make them afraid.^h

³The fortifiedⁱ city will disappear from Ephraim,

and royal power from Damascus;

the remnant of Aram will be

like the glory^j of the Israelites,”^k

declares the Lord Almighty.

⁴“In that day^l the glory^m of Jacob will fade;

the fat of his body will wasteⁿ away.

⁵It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,

gathering^o the grain in their arms—

as when someone gleans heads of grain^p

in the Valley of Rephaim.^q

⁶Yet some gleanings will remain,^r

as when an olive tree is beaten,^s

leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,

four or five on the fruitful boughs,”

declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁷In that day^t people will look^u to their Maker^v

and turn their eyes to the Holy One^w of Israel.

⁸They will not look to the altars,^x

the work of their hands,^y

and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles^az

and the incense altars their fingers^a have made.

⁹In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.^b And all will be desolation.

¹⁰You have forgotten^c God your Savior;^d

you have not remembered the Rock,^e your fortress.^f

Therefore, though you set out the finest plants

and plant imported vines,^g

¹¹though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,

and on the morning^h when you plant them, you bring them to bud,

yet the harvestⁱ will be as nothing^j

in the day of disease and incurable^k pain.^l

¹²Woe to the many nations that rage^m—

they rage like the raging sea!ⁿ

Woe to the peoples who roar^o—

they roar like the roaring of great waters!^p

¹³Although the peoples roar^q like the roar of surging waters,

when he rebukes^r them they flee^s far away,

driven before the wind like chaff^t on the hills,

like tumbleweed before a gale.^u

¹⁴In the evening, sudden^v terror!^w

Before the morning, they are gone!^x

This is the portion of those who loot us,

the lot of those who plunder us.

A Prophecy Against Cush

18Woe^y to the land of whirring wings^a

along the rivers of Cush,^bz

²which sends envoys^a by sea

in papyrus^b boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,

to a people tall and smooth-skinned,^c

to a people feared far and wide,

an aggressive^d nation of strange speech,

whose land is divided by rivers.^e

³All you people of the world,^f

you who live on the earth,

when a banner^g is raised on the mountains,

you will see it,

and when a trumpet^h sounds,

you will hear it.

⁴This is what the Lord says to me:

“I will remain quietⁱ and will look on from my dwelling place,^j

like shimmering heat in the sunshine,^k

like a cloud of dew^l in the heat of harvest.”

⁵For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone

and the flower becomes a ripening grape,

he will cut off^m the shoots with pruning knives,

and cut down and take away the spreading branches.ⁿ

⁶They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey^o

and to the wild animals;^p

the birds will feed on them all summer,

the wild animals all winter.

⁷At that time gifts^q will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,^r

from a people feared^s far and wide,

an aggressive nation of strange speech,

whose land is divided by rivers^t—

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.^u

A Prophecy Against Egypt

19A prophecy^v against Egypt:^w

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud^x

and is coming to Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him,

and the hearts of the Egyptians melt^y with fear.

²“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—

brother will fight against brother,^z

neighbor against neighbor,

city against city,

kingdom against kingdom.^a

³The Egyptians will lose heart,^b

and I will bring their plans^c to nothing;^d

they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,

the mediums and the spiritists.^e

⁴I will hand the Egyptians over

to the power of a cruel master,

and a fierce king^f will rule over them,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

⁵The waters of the river will dry up,^g

and the riverbed will be parched and dry.^h

⁶The canals will stink;ⁱ

the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.^j

The reeds^k and rushes will wither,^l

⁷also the plants^m along the Nile,

at the mouth of the river.

Every sown fieldⁿ along the Nile

will become parched, will blow away and be no more.^o

⁸The fishermen^p will groan and lament,

all who cast hooks^q into the Nile;

those who throw nets on the water

will pine away.

⁹Those who work with combed flax^r will despair,

the weavers of fine linen^s will lose hope.

¹⁰The workers in cloth will be dejected,

and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

¹¹The officials of Zoan^t are nothing but fools;

the wise counselors^u of Pharaoh give senseless advice.^v

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the wise men,^w

a disciple of the ancient kings”?

¹²Where are your wise men^x now?

Let them show you and make known

what the Lord Almighty

has planned^y against Egypt.

¹³The officials of Zoan^z have become fools,

the leaders of Memphis^a are deceived;

the cornerstones^b of her peoples

have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The Lord has poured into them

a spirit of dizziness;^c

they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,

as a drunkard staggers^d around in his vomit.

¹⁵There is nothing Egypt can do—

head or tail, palm branch or reed.^e

¹⁶In that day^f the Egyptians will become weaklings.^g They will shudder with fear^h at the uplifted handⁱ that the Lord Almighty raises against them. ¹⁷And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified,^j because of what the Lord Almighty is planning^k against them.

¹⁸In that day^l five cities^m in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegianceⁿ to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.^ao

¹⁹In that day^p there will be an altar^q to the Lord in the heart of Egypt,^r and a monument^s to the Lord at its border. ²⁰It will be a sign and witness^t to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior^u and defender, and he will rescue^v them. ²¹So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge^w the Lord. They will worship^x with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them.^{y 22}The Lord will strike^z Egypt with a plague;^a he will strike them and heal them. They will turn^b to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal^c them.

²³In that day^d there will be a highway^e from Egypt to Assyria.^f The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship^g together. ²⁴In that day^h Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria,ⁱ a blessing^bj on the earth. ²⁵The Lord Almighty will bless^k them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people,^l Assyria my handiwork,^m and Israel my inheritance.ⁿ”

A Prophecy Against Egypt and Cush

20In the year that the supreme commander,^o sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod^p and attacked and captured it—²at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz.^q He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth^r from your body and the sandals^s from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped^t and barefoot.^u

³Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant^v Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years,^w as a sign^x and portent^y against Egypt^z and Cush,^{aa 4}so the king^b of Assyria will lead away stripped^c and barefoot the Egyptian captives^d and Cushite^e exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared^f—to Egypt’s shame.^{g 5}Those who trusted^h in Cushⁱ and boasted in Egypt^j will be dismayed and put to shame.^{k 6}In that day^l the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened^m to those we relied on,ⁿ those we fled to for help^o and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?^p’ ”