Isaiah 19:1–17

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.