IsaiahChapter 19
Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.
1This is the message of judgment against Egypt:
Look, the LORD rides on a fast cloud.
He is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt will shake before him.
The hearts of the Egyptians will melt inside them. 2"I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian.
Brother will fight against brother.
Neighbor will fight against neighbor.
City will fight city, and kingdom will fight kingdom. 3Then the Egyptians will lose heart.
I will ruin their plans.
So they will turn to idols and the spirits of the dead.
They will turn to mediums and fortune-tellers. 4I will hand the Egyptians over to a harsh master.
A fierce king will rule over them,"
says the Lord GOD of Hosts. 5The waters of the Nile will dry up.
The riverbed will be dry and empty. 6The canals will stink.
The streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up.
The reeds and rushes will dry up and die. 7The reeds by the Nile, at the mouth of the river, will dry up.
All the fields planted along the Nile will dry up too.
They will blow away and be gone. 8Then the fishermen will be sad.
All who throw a hook into the Nile will cry.
Those who spread nets on the waters will waste away. 9The people who work with flax will lose hope.
The weavers of fine linen will turn pale. 10The cloth workers will be crushed.
All the hired workers will be sick at heart. 11The princes of Zoan are nothing but fools.
Pharaoh's wise advisers give silly advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
"I am one of the wise men.
I am a son of the kings of the east"?a 12Where are your wise men now?
Let them tell you.
Let them show what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt. 13The princes of Zoan have become fools.
The princes of Memphis are fooled.
The leaders of her tribes have led Egypt the wrong way.b 14The LORD has poured a spirit of confusion into her.
Egypt has gone the wrong way in all she does.
She is like a drunk man staggering through his own vomit. 15There is nothing Egypt can do,
whether head or tail, palm branch or reed. 16On that day the Egyptians will be like women.
They will shake with fear under the raised hand of the LORD of Hosts,
when he waves it against them. 17The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt.
Whenever anyone talks about Judah, Egypt will shake with fear.
They will fear what the LORD of Hosts has planned against them. 18On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan.
They will promise to be loyal to the LORD of Hosts.
One of them will be called the City of the Sun.c 19On that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the middle of Egypt.
There will be a stone pillar to the LORD near its border. 20It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt.
They will cry out to the LORD because of those who treat them cruelly.
Then he will send them a savior and defender to rescue them. 21The LORD will make himself known to Egypt.
On that day Egypt will know the LORD.
They will worship him with sacrifices and offerings.
They will make promises to the LORD and keep them. 22The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague.
He will strike them, but he will heal them.
They will turn to the LORD.
He will hear their prayers and heal them. 23On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria.
The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians will go to Assyria.
The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24On that day Israel will be the third partner with Egypt and Assyria.
They will be a blessing on the earth. 25The LORD of Hosts will bless them. He will say,
"Blessed be Egypt, my people.
Blessed be Assyria, the work of my hands.
Blessed be Israel, my inheritance."