Isaiah 19
The Lord Will Judge Egypt
19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:
Look, the
and approaches Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him;
the Egyptians lose their courage.1
19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt,2
brothers will fight with each other,
as will neighbors,
cities, and kingdoms.3
19:3 The Egyptians will panic,4
and I will confuse their strategy.5
They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,
from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.6
19:4 I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master;
a powerful king will rule over them,”
says the sovereign master,7 the
19:5 The water of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will dry up and be empty.8
19:6 The canals9 will stink;10
the streams of Egypt will trickle and then dry up;
the bulrushes and reeds will decay,
19:7 along with the plants by the mouth of the river.11
All the cultivated land near the river
will turn to dust and be blown away.12
19:8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,
all those who cast a fishhook into the river,
and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve.13
19:9 Those who make clothes from combed flax will be embarrassed;
those who weave will turn pale.14
19:10 Those who make cloth15 will be demoralized;16
all the hired workers will be depressed.17
19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools;18
Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.
How dare you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one of the sages,
one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?”19
19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men?20
Let them tell you, let them find out
what the
19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,
the officials of Memphis21 are misled;
the rulers22 of her tribes lead Egypt astray.
19:14 The
they lead Egypt astray in all she does,
so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit.24
19:15 Egypt will not be able to do a thing,
head or tail, shoots and stalk.25
19:16 At that time26 the Egyptians27 will be like women.28 They will tremble and fear because the
19:18 At that time five cities31 in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the
19:23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.41
19:24 At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing42 in the earth.43
19:25 The