Isaiah 19:1-15

The Burden against Egypt

1 This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2 “So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

4 I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of a harsh master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

5 The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

6 The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.

7 The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more.

8 Then the fishermen will mourn, all who cast a hook into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.

9 The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale.

10 The workers in cloth ^[a] will be dejected, and all the hired workers will be sick at heart.

11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?

12 Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis ^[b] are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

14 The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.

15 There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm or reed.

Isaiah 19:1-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 19

This chapter contains prophecies of various calamities that should come upon Egypt in a short time, and of the conversion of many of them to Christ in Gospel times. The calamities are many; the Lord's coming unto them, which their gods cannot prevent, nor stand before, nor save them, and at which the hearts of the Egyptians are dispirited, Isa 19:1 civil wars among themselves, Isa 19:2 want of counsel, which sends them to idols and wizards, but in vain, Isa 19:3 subjection to a cruel lord, Isa 19:4 drying up of their rivers and waters, so that the paper reeds wither, and fishes die; and hence no business for fishermen, nor for workers in flax, or weavers of nets, Isa 19:5-10,15 the stupidity of their princes and wise counsellors, given up by the Lord to a perverse spirit, so that they concerted wrong measures, and deceived the people, Isa 19:11-14 a general consternation among them, because of the hand and counsel of the Lord; and because of the Lord's people, the Jews, who were a terror to them, Isa 19:16,17 and then follows the prophecy of their conversion in later times, which is signified by their speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing to the Lord, Isa 19:18 by their erecting an altar, and a pillar to the Lord, which should be a sign and witness to him; and by their crying to him, and his sending them a Saviour, and a great one, Isa 19:19,20 by his being known unto them, by their offering sacrifice to him, and by his smiting and healing them Isa 19:21,22 and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of that harmony, and agreement, and fellowship, that shall be between Jew and Gentile, between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel; and that the blessing of God should be upon them all, Isa 19:23-25.

Footnotes

• [a] Or Its pillars
• [b] LXX; Hebrew Noph