Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 This is a message about Egypt. The Lord is coming to Egypt, riding swiftly on a cloud. The Egyptian idols tremble before him, and the people of Egypt lose their courage.
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The burden of Egypt. Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 The Lord says, "I will stir up civil war in Egypt and turn brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor. Rival cities will fight each other, and rival kings will struggle for power.
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I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom.
3 I am going to frustrate the plans of the Egyptians and destroy their morale. They will ask their idols to help them, and they will go and consult mediums and ask the spirits of the dead for advice.
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The spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel of it: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to those who have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 I will hand the Egyptians over to a tyrant, to a cruel king who will rule them. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken."
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I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts.
5 The water will be low in the Nile, and the river will gradually dry up.
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The waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
6 The channels of the river will stink as they slowly go dry. Reeds and rushes will wither,
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The rivers shall become foul; the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither away.
7 and all the crops planted along the banks of the Nile will dry up and be blown away.
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The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, shall become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
8 Everyone who earns a living by fishing in the Nile will groan and cry; their hooks and their nets will be useless.
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The fishermen shall lament, and all those who cast angle into the Nile shall mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters shall languish.
9 Those who make linen cloth will be in despair;
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Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, shall be confounded.
10 weavers and skilled workers will be broken and depressed.
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The pillars [of Egypt] shall be broken in pieces; all those who work for hire [shall be] grieved in soul.
11 The leaders of the city of Zoan are fools! Egypt's wisest people give stupid advice! How do they dare to tell the king that they are successors to the ancient scholars and kings?
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The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
12 King of Egypt, where are those clever advisers of yours? Perhaps they can tell you what plans the Lord Almighty has for Egypt.
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Where then are your wise men? and let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Hosts has purposed concerning Egypt.
13 The leaders of Zoan and Memphis are fools. They were supposed to lead the nation, but they have misled it.
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The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the corner-stone of her tribes.
14 The Lord has made them give confusing advice. As a result, Egypt does everything wrong and staggers like a drunk slipping on his own vomit.
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Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work of it, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 No one in Egypt, rich or poor, important or unknown, can offer help.
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Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.
16 A time is coming when the people of Egypt will be as timid as women. They will tremble in terror when they see that the Lord Almighty has stretched out his hand to punish them.
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In that day shall the Egyptians be like women; and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Yahweh of Hosts, which he shakes over them.
17 The people of Egypt will be terrified of Judah every time they are reminded of the fate that the Lord Almighty has prepared for them.
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The land of Judah shall become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom mention is made of it shall be afraid, because of the purpose of Yahweh of Hosts, which he purposes against it.
18 When that time comes, the Hebrew language will be spoken in five Egyptian cities. The people there will take their oaths in the name of the Lord Almighty. One of the cities will be called, "City of the Sun."
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In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction.
19 When that time comes, there will be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt and a stone pillar dedicated to him at the Egyptian border.
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In that day shall there be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border of it to Yahweh.
20 They will be symbols of the Lord Almighty's presence in Egypt. When the people there are oppressed and call out to the Lord for help, he will send someone to rescue them.
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It shall be for a sign and for a witness to Yahweh of Hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and he will send them a savior, and a defender, and he will deliver them.
21 The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptian people, and then they will acknowledge and worship him, and bring him sacrifices and offerings. They will make solemn promises to him and do what they promise.
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Yahweh shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Yahweh in that day; yes, they shall worship with sacrifice and offering, and shall vow a vow to Yahweh, and shall perform it.
22 The Lord will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them. They will turn to him, and he will hear their prayers and heal them.
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Yahweh will strike Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return to Yahweh, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them.
23 When that time comes, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. The people of these two countries will travel back and forth between them, and the two nations will worship together.
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In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians.
24 When that time comes, Israel will rank with Egypt and Assyria, and these three nations will be a blessing to all the world.
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In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;
25 The Lord Almighty will bless them and say, "I will bless you, Egypt, my people; you, Assyria, whom I created; and you, Israel, my chosen people."
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because Yahweh of Hosts has blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.
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