Isaiah 19 (New American Standard)

Message to Egypt

1 The ^a1oracle concerning ²Egypt. Behold, the LORD is ³riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt ; The ⁴idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the ⁵heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. 2 "So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians ; And they will ⁶each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city and kingdom against kingdom. 3 "Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that ⁷they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to ^bmediums and spiritists. 4 "Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a ⁸cruel master, And a ^cmighty king will rule over them," declares the Lord ^dGOD of hosts. 5 ⁹The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry. 6 The ^e10canals will emit a stench, The ^f11streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; ¹²The reeds and rushes will rot away. 7 The bulrushes by the ¹³Nile, by the ^gedge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more. 8 And the ¹⁴fishermen will lament, And all those who cast a ^hline into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will ⁱpine away. 9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white ¹⁵cloth will be ^jutterly dejected. 10 And ^kthe ¹⁶pillars of Egypt will be crushed ; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul. 11 The princes of ^l17Zoan are mere fools ; The advice of Pharaoh's wisest advisers has become ^mstupid. How can you men say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the ¹⁸wise, a son of ancient kings "? 12 Well then, where are your wise men ? Please let them tell you, And let them ⁿunderstand what the LORD of hosts Has ¹⁹purposed against Egypt. 13 The princes of ^oZoan have acted foolishly, The princes of ²⁰Memphis are deluded ; Those who are the ²¹cornerstone of her tribes Have ^pled Egypt astray. 14 The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of ²²distortion ; ²³They have led Egypt astray in all ^qthat it does, As a ²⁴drunken man ^rstaggers in his vomit. 15 There will be no work for Egypt ²⁵Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do. 16 In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in ²⁶dread because of the ²⁷waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. 17 The land of Judah will become a ^sterror to Egypt ; everyone ^tto whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the ²⁸purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is purposing against them. 18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and ²⁹swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts ; one will be called the City of ^uDestruction. 19 In that day there will be an ³⁰altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a ³¹pillar to the LORD near its border. 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt ; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a ³²Savior and a ^v33Champion, and He will deliver them. 21 Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with ³⁴sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. 22 The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but ³⁵healing ; so they will ³⁶return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. 23 In that day there will be a ³⁷highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will ³⁸worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed is ³⁹Egypt My people, and Assyria ⁴⁰the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."