Isaiah 19

1 The word about Egypt. See, the Lord is seated on a quick-moving cloud, and is coming to Egypt: and the false gods of Egypt will be troubled at his coming, and the heart of Egypt will be turned to water.

The burden of Egypt. Behold, YHWH is riding on a swift thick cloud, And He has entered Egypt, And the idols of Egypt have been moved at His presence, And the heart of Egypt melts in its midst.

2 And I will send the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they will be fighting every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; town against town, and kingdom against kingdom.

And I armed Egyptians against Egyptians, And they fought, each against his brother, And each against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 And the spirit of Egypt will be troubled in her, and I will make her decisions without effect: and they will be turning to the false gods, and to those who make hollow sounds, and to those who have control of spirits, and to those who are wise in secret arts.

And the spirit of Egypt has been emptied out in its midst. And I swallow up its counsel, And they have sought to the idols, And to the charmers, And to those having familiar spirits, And to the wizards.

4 And I will give the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a hard king will be their ruler, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.

And I have delivered the Egyptians Into the hand of a hard lord, And a strong king rules over them, A declaration of the Lord, YHWH of Hosts.

5 And the waters of the sea will be cut off, and the river will become dry and waste:

And waters have failed from the sea, And a river is desolated and dried up.

6 And the rivers will have an evil smell; the stream of Egypt will become small and dry: all the water-plants will come to nothing.

And they have turned away the flowings, Brooks of the bulwark have been weak and dried up, Reed and flag have withered.

7 The grass-lands by the Nile, and everything planted by the Nile, will become dry, or taken away by the wind, and will come to an end.

Exposed things by the brook, by the edge of the brook, And every sown thing of the brook, has withered, It has been driven away, and is not.

8 The fishermen will be sad, and all those who put fishing-lines into the Nile will be full of grief, and those whose nets are stretched out on the waters will have sorrow in their hearts.

And the fishers have lamented, And all casting a hook into the brook have mourned, And those spreading dragnets on the face of the waters have languished.

9 And all the workers in linen thread, and those who make cotton cloth, will be put to shame.

And makers of fine flax have been ashamed, And weavers of networks.

10 And the makers of twisted thread will be crushed, and those who ... will be sad in heart.

And its foundations have been struck, All making wages [are] afflicted in soul.

11 The chiefs of Zoan are completely foolish; the wisest guides of Pharaoh have become like beasts: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the offspring of early kings?

Only, the princes of Zoan [are] fools, The counsel of the wise ones of the counselors of Pharaoh has become brutish. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of kings of antiquity?”

12 Where, then, are your wise men? let them make clear to you, let them give you knowledge of the purpose of the Lord of armies for Egypt.

Where [are] they now, your wise ones? Indeed, let them now tell [it] to you, And they know what YHWH of Hosts has counseled against Egypt!

13 The chiefs of Zoan have become foolish, the chiefs of Noph are tricked, the heads of her tribes are the cause of Egypt's wandering out of the way.

Princes of Zoan have been foolish, Princes of Noph have been lifted up, And they have caused Egypt to err, The chief of her tribes.

14 The Lord has sent among them a spirit of error: and by them Egypt is turned out of the right way in all her doings, as a man overcome by wine is uncertain in his steps.

YHWH has mingled in her midst A spirit of perverseness, And they have caused Egypt to err in all its work, As a drunkard errs in his vomit.

15 And in Egypt there will be no work for any man, head or tail, high or low, to do.

And there is no work to Egypt, That head or tail, branch or reed, may do.

16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women: and the land will be shaking with fear because of the waving of the Lord's hand stretched out over it.

In that day Egypt is like women, And it has mourned, and been afraid, Because of the waving of the hand of YHWH of Hosts, That He is waving over it.

17 And the land of Judah will become a cause of great fear to Egypt; whenever its name comes to mind, Egypt will be in fear before the Lord of armies because of his purpose against it.

And the land of Judah has been to Egypt for a cause of staggering, Everyone who mentions it, fears for himself, Because of the counsel of YHWH of Hosts, That He is counseling against it.

18 In that day there will be five towns in the land of Egypt using the language of Canaan, and making oaths to the Lord of armies; and one of them will be named, The Town of the Sun.

In that day there are five cities in the land of Egypt, Speaking the lip of Canaan, And swearing to YHWH of Hosts, “The city of destruction,” is said of one.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at the edge of the land.

In that day there is an altar to YHWH In the midst of the land of Egypt, And a standing pillar to YHWH near its border,

20 And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt: when they are crying out to the Lord because of their cruel masters, then he will send them a saviour and a strong one to make them free.

And it has been for a sign and for a testimony, To YHWH of Hosts in the land of Egypt, For they cry to YHWH from the face of oppressors, And He sends a Savior to them, Even a great one, and has delivered them.

21 And the Lord will give the knowledge of himself to Egypt, and the Egyptians will give honour to the Lord in that day; they will give him worship with offerings and meal offerings, and will take an oath to the Lord and give effect to it.

And YHWH has been known to Egypt, And the Egyptians have known YHWH in that day, And done sacrifice and present, And vowed a vow to YHWH, and completed [it].

22 And the Lord will send punishment on Egypt, and will make them well again; and when they come back to the Lord he will give ear to their prayer and take away their disease.

And YHWH has struck Egypt, striking and healing, And they have turned back to YHWH, And He has accepted their plea, And has healed them.

23 In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt will come into Assyria; and the Egyptians will give worship to the Lord together with the Assyrians.

In that day a highway is out of Egypt to Asshur, And the Assyrians have come into Egypt, And the Egyptians into Asshur, And the Egyptians have served with the Assyrians.

24 In that day Israel will be the third together with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the earth:

In that day Israel is third, With Egypt, and with Asshur, A blessing in the heart of the earth.

25 Because of the blessing of the Lord of armies which he has given them, saying, A blessing on Egypt my people, and on Assyria the work of my hands, and on Israel my heritage.

In that YHWH of Hosts blessed it, saying, “Blessed [is] My people—Egypt, And the work of My hands—Asshur, And My inheritance—Israel!”