Isaiah 19:1–15

An Oracle concerning Egypt

¹⁹An oracle concerning Egypt.

See, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud

and comes to Egypt;

the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,

and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.^*

²I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,

and they will fight, one against the other,

neighbor against neighbor,

city against city, kingdom against kingdom;^*

³the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,

and I will confound their plans;

they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead

and the ghosts and the familiar spirits;^*

⁴I will deliver the Egyptians

into the hand of a hard master;

a fierce king will rule over them,

says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts.^*

⁵The waters of the Nile will be dried up,

and the river will be parched and dry;^*

⁶its canals will become foul,

and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up.

Reeds and rushes will rot away,^*

⁷the reeds beside the Nile;^p

all that is sown by the Nile will dry up,

be driven away, and be no more.

⁸Those who fish will mourn;

all who cast hooks in the Nile will lament,

and those who spread nets on the water will languish.

⁹The workers in flax will be in despair,

and the carders and those at the loom will grow pale.

¹⁰Its weavers will be dismayed,

and all who work for wages will be grieved.^*

¹¹Clearly the princes of Zoan are foolish;

the wise counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the sages,

a descendant of ancient kings”?^*

¹²Where now are your sages?

Let them tell you and make known

what the Lord of hosts has planned against Egypt.^*

¹³The princes of Zoan have become fools,

and the princes of Memphis are deluded;

those who are the cornerstones of its tribes

have led Egypt astray.^*

¹⁴The Lord has poured into them^q

a spirit of confusion;

and they have made Egypt stagger in all its doings

as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.^*

¹⁵Neither head nor tail, palm branch or reed,

will be able to do anything for Egypt.