Isaiah 19

1 [I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Egypt: “Listen to this! I, Yahweh, am coming to Egypt, riding on a fast-moving cloud. The idols in Egypt will tremble when [I appear], and the people of Egypt will be extremely afraid [IDM].

The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a lofty cloud, and he will enter into Egypt, and the false images of Egypt will be moved before his face, and the heart of Egypt will waste away in its midst.

2 I will cause the people of Egypt to fight against each other: men will fight against their brothers, neighbors will fight against each other, people of one city will fight against the people of another city, people of one province will fight against the people of another province.

And I will cause Egyptian to rush against Egyptian. And they will fight: a man against his brother, and a man against his friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 The people of Egypt will become very discouraged, and I will cause their plans not to be successful. They will plead with idols and sorcerers and those who talk with spirits of dead people to tell them what they should do.

And the spirit of Egypt will be ruptured to its very core. And I will cast down their plan violently. And they will seek answers from their false images, and their diviners, and those led by demons, and their seers.

4 Then I will enable someone who will treat them very cruelly to become their king [DOU].” That is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say.

And I will deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel masters, and a strong king will dominate them, says the Lord, the God of hosts.

5 [Some day] the water in the [Nile] River will dry up, and the riverbed will become very dry [DOU].

And the waters of the sea will dry up, and the river will be desolate and dry.

6 The branches of the river will all dry up [DOU] The canals along the river will stink because of the rotting reeds and (bulrushes/tall grass).

And the rivers will fail. The streams of its banks will diminish and dry up. The reed and the bulrush will wither away.

7 All the plants along the river and all the crops will dry up; then they will blow away and disappear.

The channel of the river will be stripped down to its source, and everything irrigated by it will dry up and wither and be no more.

8 The fishermen will throw into the river lines with hooks on them and nets, and then they will groan and be very discouraged; they will be sad [because there will be no fish in the river].

And the fishermen will grieve. And all who cast a hook into the river will mourn. And those who cast a net upon the surface of its waters will languish.

9 Those who weave cloth from flax will not know what to do, because there will be no thread for them to weave.

Those who work with linen, combing and weaving fine textiles, will be confounded.

10 They will all despair and be very discouraged.

And its irrigated places will begin to fail, with all those who make pools to take fish.

11 The officials in Zoan [city in northern Egypt] are foolish. The advice that they gave to the king was worthless. Why do they continue to tell the king that they are wise, that they are descendants of wise kings who lived long ago [RHQ]?

The leaders of Tanis are foolish. The wise counselors of Pharaoh have given foolish counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh: “I am the son of wise men, the son of the kings of antiquity?”

12 King, (where are your wise counselors now?/You have no wise counselors now!) [RHQ] If you had any wise counselors, they could tell you what the Commander of the armies of angels has planned to do to Egypt [SAR]!

Where are your wise men now? Let them announce it to you, and let them reveal what the Lord of hosts intends for Egypt.

13 [Yes], the officials of Zoan have become foolish, and the leaders in Memphis [city in northern Egypt] have deceived themselves. [All] leaders of the people have (caused their people to do wrong things/led their people astray).

The leaders of Tanis have become foolish. The leaders of Memphis have decayed. They have deceived Egypt, the corner of its people.

14 Yahweh has caused them to be very foolish, with the result that in everything that they do, [it is as though the people of] Egypt stagger like [SIM] a drunken person staggers [and slips] in his own vomit.

The Lord has mixed a spirit of giddiness into its midst. And they have caused Egypt to err in all its works, like a drunken man who staggers and vomits.

15 There is no one in Egypt, rich or poor, important or unimportant, [who will be able to help them].

And there will be no work for Egypt that would produce a head or a tail, one who bows down or one who refrains from bowing down.

16 At that time, the people of Egypt will be [as helpless] as [SIM] women. They will tremble, being terrified [because they know that] the Commander of the armies of angels has raised his fist, [ready to strike/punish them].

In that day, Egypt will be like women, and they will be stupefied and fearful before the presence of the shaking hand of the Lord of hosts, the hand which he will move over them.

17 The people of Egypt will be afraid of the people of Judah, and anyone who mentions Judah to them will cause them to be terrified, because [that will remind them] of what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels, is planning to do to them.

And the land of Judah will be a dread to Egypt. Everyone who thinks about it will be terrified before the presence of the plan of the Lord of hosts, the plan which he has decided concerning them.

18 At that time, [people in] five cities in Egypt will solemnly declare that they will serve Yahweh. They will [learn to] speak the Hebrew language. One of those cities will be called ‘City of the Sun’.

In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak the language of Canaan, and which swear by the Lord of hosts. One will be called the City of the Sun.

19 At that time, there will be an altar for worshiping Yahweh in the center of Egypt, and there will be a (pillar/large rock) to honor Yahweh at the border [between Egypt and Israel].

In that day, there will be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a monument of the Lord beside its borders.

20 That will be a sign to indicate that the Commander of the armies of angels is worshiped in the land of Egypt. And when the people cry out to Yahweh to help them because others are (oppressing them/causing them to suffer), he will send to them someone who will defend and rescue them.

This shall be a sign and a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they will cry out to the Lord before the face of the tribulation, and he will send them a savior and a defender who will free them.

21 Yahweh will enable the people of Egypt to know who he is, and at that time they will have a close relationship with Yahweh and worship him and bring to him offerings of grain and other sacrifices. They will solemnly promise to do things for Yahweh, and they will do what they promise.

And the Lord will be acknowledged by Egypt, and the Egyptians will recognize the Lord in that day, and they will worship him with sacrifices and gifts. And they will make vows to the Lord, and they will fulfill them.

22 After Yahweh has punished Egypt, he will cause their troubles to end. The people of Egypt will turn to Yahweh, and he will listen when they plead to him [for help], and he will cause their troubles to cease.

And the Lord will strike Egypt with a scourge, and he will heal them. And they will return to the Lord. And he will be placated toward them, and he will heal them.

23 At that time, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. [As a result], the people of Egypt will [be able to] travel [easily] to Assyria, and the people of Assyria [will be able to travel easily] to Egypt. And the people of both countries will worship [Yahweh].

In that day, there will be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrian will enter into Egypt, and the Egyptian will be with the Assyrians, and the Egyptians will serve Assur.

24 And Israel will be their ally. All three nations will be [friendly to] each other, and the people of Israel will be a blessing to the people of the entire world.

In that day, will Israel be the third to the Egyptian and the Assyrian, a blessing in the midst of the earth,

25 The Commander of the armies of angels will bless them, saying, “[You people of] Egypt are now my people. You people of Assyria, I have established your country. You people of Israel are the people whom I have chosen to belong to me.”

which the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying: Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of my hands for the Assyrian, but Israel is my inheritance.