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19 Here 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.
2 The 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.
3 The 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.
4 I 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.
5 The waters of the Nile River will dry up.
The bottom of it will be cracked and dry.
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.
7 So 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.
All those who drop hooks into the Nile will sob.
Those who throw their nets on the water
will become very sad.
9 Those who make clothes out of flax will lose hope.
So will those who weave fine linen.
10 Those who work with cloth will be unhappy.
And all those who work for money will be sick at heart.
11 The 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”?
12 Pharaoh, where are your wise men now?
Let them tell you
what the Lord who rules over all
has planned against Egypt.
13 The 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.
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.
15 No 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.
18At that time the people of five cities in Egypt will use the Hebrew language when they worship the Lord who rules over all. They will take an oath. And they will promise to be faithful to him. One of those cities is called The City of the Sun.
19At that time there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of Egypt. There will be a monument to him at its border. 20They will remind people that the Lord who rules over all is worshiped in Egypt. The people there will cry out to the Lord because of those who treat them badly. He will send someone to stand up for them and save them. And he will set them free.
21So the Lord will make himself known to the people of Egypt. At that time they will recognize that he is the Lord. They will worship him by bringing sacrifices and grain offerings to him. They will make promises to the Lord. And they will keep them. 22The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague. But then he will heal them. They will turn to the Lord. And he will answer their prayers and heal them.
23At that time there will be a wide road from Egypt to Assyria. The people of Assyria will go to Egypt. And the people of Egypt will go to Assyria. The people of Egypt and Assyria will worship the Lord together.
24At that time Egypt, Assyria and Israel will be a blessing to the whole earth. 25The Lord who rules over all will bless those three nations. He will say, “Let the Egyptians be blessed. They are my people. Let the Assyrians be blessed. My hands created them. And let the Israelites be blessed. They are my very own people.”
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About New International Reader’s Version (1998)The New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) was developed to help early readers understand the Bible. Begun in 1992, the NIrV is a simplification of the New International Version (NIV). The NIrV uses shorter words and sentences so that those with a typical fourth grade reading level can comprehend what they are reading. The chapters have been separated into shorter sections and most have titles that clearly indicate what the section is all about. The NIrV will be a valuable translation to those for whom English is a second language. The NIrV still relies on the best and oldest copies of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts for its translation, guaranteeing that those who read it are getting the actual Word of God. |
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