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 prophecy concerning Egypt. Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud, And cometh to Egypt; The gods of Egypt tremble at his presence, And the heart of Egypt melteth within her.

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.

“I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians; Brother shall fight against brother, And neighbor against neighbor; City against city, And 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.

The spirit of Egypt shall fail within her, And her devices I will bring to naught. Then shall they consult the idols, and the sorcerers, And the necromancers, and 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.

But I will give up the Egyptians to the hands of a cruel lord, And a fierce king shall rule over them,” Saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

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

Then shall the waters fail from the river, Yea, the river shall be wasted 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.

The streams shall become putrid; The canals of Egypt shall be emptied and dried up; The reed and the rush shall wither.

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.

The meadows by the river, by the borders of the river, And all that groweth by the river, Shall wither, be blasted, and be no more.

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.

Then shall the fishermen mourn; All they that cast the hook into the river shall lament, And they that spread nets upon the face of the waters shall languish.

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

They, also, that work in flax, And they that weave white linen, shall be confounded.

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

Her pillars are broken down, And all who labor for hire are grieved in heart.

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?

Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; The wise counsellors of Pharaoh have been stupid in their counsels. How, then, can ye say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings”?

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, thy wise men? Let them tell thee now, so that men may know it, What Jehovah of hosts hath determined concerning 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.

The princes of Zoan are become fools; The princes of Noph are deceived, Even the chiefs of her tribes have caused Egypt to err.

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.

Jehovah hath mingled within her a spirit of perverseness, And they have caused Egypt to err in all her works, As a drunkard staggereth in his vomit.

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

There shall be nothing which can be done by Egypt, By the head, or the tail, the palm-branch, or the rush.

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 shall the Egyptians be like women; They shall tremble and fear On account of the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, Which he shall shake against them.

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.

The land of Judah shall be a terror to Egypt; Every one to whom it is mentioned shall tremble On account of the purpose of Jehovah of hosts, Which he hath determined against them.

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 shall be five cities in the land of Egypt Speaking the language of Canaan, And swearing by Jehovah of hosts; One of them shall be called the City of the Sun.

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 shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, And in the border of it a pillar to Jehovah,

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.

Which shall be a sign and a witness For Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt, That they cried to Jehovah on account of their oppressors, And he sent them a saviour, and a defender, who 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.

Thus shall Jehovah be made known to Egypt, And the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day, And shall offer him sacrifices and oblations; They shall make vows to Jehovah, and perform them.

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.

Thus Jehovah will smite Egypt; he will smite and heal her; They shall return to Jehovah; Therefore will he hear and heal 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 shall there he a highway from Egypt to Assyria, And the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, And the Egyptian into Assyria, And the Egyptians shall worship 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 shall Israel be the third In connection with Egypt and Assyria, A blessing in the midst 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.

Jehovah of hosts shall bless them, and say, Blessed be Egypt, my people, And Assyria, the work of my hands, And Israel, my inheritance!