Isaiah 17; Isaiah 18; Isaiah 19

1 This is the divine revelation about Damascus. "Damascus will no longer be a city. It will become a pile of rubble.

2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted. These cities will be used for sheep, which will lie down in them. There will be no one to disturb those sheep.

3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom will disappear from Damascus. The remaining few from Aram will share Israel's honor," declares the LORD of Armies.

4 "When that day comes, the honor of Jacob's people will fade away, and they will become skin and bones.

5 That time will be like harvesting bundles of grain by the armful. It will be like gathering grain in the Rephaim Valley.

6 Only a few people will survive. They will be like an olive tree that has been beaten. Only two or three olives are left at the top of the highest branch, four or five olives on the rest of the branches," declares the LORD God of Israel.

7 When that day comes, they will look to their maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.

8 They won't look to the altars made by their hands or to the Asherah poles or incense altars which their fingers molded.

9 When that day comes, the fortified cities which other people abandoned because of the Israelites will be like abandoned woods and undergrowth. So it will become a wasteland.

10 You have forgotten the God of your salvation. You haven't remembered the rock, your stronghold. Instead, you have planted the best plants and have set out the imported grapevines.

11 On the day you plant, you will make it grow. On the morning you set out the seedling, you will make it sprout. But the harvest will become a [rotting] pile on a day of grief and incurable pain.

12 How horrible it will be for many people! They will roar like the roaring sea. The noise that the people make will be like the noise from rushing water.

13 The people will make noise like raging water. But the LORD will yell at them, and they will run far away. They will be chased away like husks on the mountains being blown by the wind, like whirling dust being blown by a storm.

14 In the evening there will be sudden terror. Before morning they will be gone. This will be the fate of those who looted us, the destiny of those who robbed us.

1 How horrible it will be for the land of whirring wings which lies beyond the rivers of Sudan.

2 It sends messengers by sea in boats made of reeds [skimming] over the surface of the water. Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned people, a people [who are] feared far and near, a strong and aggressive nation, whose land is divided by rivers.

3 Look when someone raises a flag on the mountains. Listen when someone blows a ram's horn, all you inhabitants of the world who live on the earth.

4 This is what the LORD says to me: I will keep quiet and watch from my dwelling place. My presence will be like scorching heat in the sunshine, like heavy dew in the heat of the harvest.

5 Before the harvest, when blossoms are gone and grapes are ripening from blossoms, he will cut off the shoots with pruning shears and chop off the spreading branches.

6 They will be left for the birds of prey on the mountains and the wild animals. The birds of prey will feed on them in the summer, and all the wild animals on earth will feed on them in the winter.

7 At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Armies from a tall and smooth-skinned people, a people [who are] feared far and near, a strong and aggressive nation, whose land is divided by rivers. They will be brought to Mount Zion, the place where the name of the LORD of Armies is.

1 This is the divine revelation about Egypt. The LORD is riding on a fast-moving cloud and is coming to Egypt. Egypt's idols will tremble in his presence. Egypt's courage will fail.

2 "I will turn one Egyptian against another. They will fight-- brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 The Egyptians will lose courage. I will unravel their plans. They will turn to idols, ghosts, mediums, and fortunetellers.

4 I will hand over the Egyptians to a harsh master. A strong king will rule them," declares the Almighty LORD of Armies.

5 The water in the Nile River will be dried up, and the river will be dry and empty.

6 The canals will stink. Egypt's streams will be emptied and dried up. The reeds and cattails will wither.

7 The rushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile, and all the fields planted beside the Nile will dry up, be blown away, and disappear.

8 Fishermen will cry. All who cast their lines into the Nile will mourn. Those who spread their nets on the water will sigh.

9 Linenworkers and weavers will be ashamed.

10 Egypt's weavers will be crushed. Those who work for money will be distressed.

11 The leaders of Zoan are nothing but fools. The wisest of Pharaoh's counselors gives stupid advice. How can you tell Pharaoh, "I'm a descendant of wise men, a descendant of ancient kings"?

12 Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you. Let them explain what the LORD of Armies is planning against Egypt.

13 The leaders of Zoan are acting foolishly. The leaders of Memphis are led astray. The leaders who are the cornerstones of its tribes mislead the Egyptians.

14 The LORD mixes up their minds. So they lead the Egyptians astray like a drunk who staggers in his vomit.

15 No one--leaders or followers, important or unimportant-- can do anything for Egypt.

16 At that time Egyptians will act like women. They will tremble and be terrified because the LORD of Armies will shake his fist at them.

17 The land of Judah will terrify the Egyptians. Whenever they are reminded of Judah, they will be terrified of it because of what the LORD of Armies is planning against it.

18 When that day comes, five cities in Egypt will have people that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Armies. One of the cities will be called Heliopolis.

19 When that day comes, an altar for the LORD will be in the middle of Egypt, and a stone marker for the LORD will be near its border.

20 These objects will be a sign and a witness that the LORD of Armies is in Egypt. When the people cry to the LORD because of those who oppress them, he will send a savior and defender to rescue them.

21 So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians. The Egyptians will know the LORD when that day comes. They will worship with sacrifices and food offerings. They will make vows to the LORD and carry them out.

22 The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague. When he strikes them, he will also heal them. Then they will come back to the LORD. And he will respond to their prayers and heal them.

23 When that day comes, a highway will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

24 When that day comes, Israel will be one-third [of God's people], along with Egypt and Assyria. They will be a blessing on the earth.

25 The LORD of Armies will bless them, saying, "My people Egypt, the work of my hands Assyria, and my possession Israel are blessed."