Isaiah 19-21

New American Standard Bible

Message to Egypt

19 The ^(A)pronouncement concerning ^(B)Egypt:

Behold, the Lord is ^(C)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The ^(D)idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the ^(E)heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
²“So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will fight, ^(F)each against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
³Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confuse their strategy,
So that ^(G)they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead,
And to ^[a]mediums and spiritists.
⁴Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a ^(H)cruel master,
And a ^[b]mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord ^[c]God of armies.

⁵^(I)The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
⁶The ^[d]^(J)canals will emit a stench,
The ^[e]^(K)streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
^(L)The reeds and rushes will rot away.
⁷The bulrushes by the ^(M)Nile, by the ^[f]edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
⁸And the ^(N)fishermen will grieve,
And all those who cast a ^[g]line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will dwindle away.
⁹Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white ^(O)cloth will be ^[h]utterly dejected.
¹⁰And ^[i]the ^(P)pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

¹¹The officials of ^[j]^(Q)Zoan are mere fools;
The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become ^[k]stupid.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the ^(R)wise, a son of ancient kings”?
¹²Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them ^[l]understand what the Lord of armies
Has ^(S)planned against Egypt.
¹³The officials of ^[m]Zoan have turned out to be fools,
The officials of ^(T)Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the ^(U)cornerstone of her tribes
Have ^[n]led Egypt astray.
¹⁴The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of ^(V)distortion;
^(W)They have led Egypt astray in all ^[o]that it does,
As a ^(X)drunken person ^[p]staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵There will be no work for Egypt
^(Y)Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.

¹⁶On that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in great ^(Z)fear because of the ^(AA)waving of the hand of the Lord of armies, which He is going to wave over them. ¹⁷The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the ^(AB)plan of the Lord of armies which He is making against them.

¹⁸On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and ^(AC)swearing allegiance to the Lord of armies; one will be called the City of ^[q]Destruction.

¹⁹On that day there will be an ^(AD)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a ^(AE)memorial stone to the Lord beside its border. ²⁰And it will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a ^(AF)Savior and a ^(AG)Champion, and He will save them. ²¹So the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day. They will even worship with ^(AH)sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. ²²And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking but ^(AI)healing; so they will ^(AJ)return to the Lord, and He will respond to their pleas and heal them.

²³On that day there will be a ^(AK)road from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will ^(AL)worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴On that day Israel will be the third party to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵whom the Lord of armies has blessed, saying, “Blessed is ^(AM)Egypt My people, and Assyria ^(AN)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

Prophecy about Egypt and Ethiopia

20 In the year that the ^[r]^(AO)commander came to ^(AP)Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, ²at that time the Lord spoke through ^(AQ)Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen the ^(AR)sackcloth from your hips and take your ^(AS)sandals off your feet.” And he did so, going ^(AT)naked and barefoot. ³Then the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a ^(AU)sign and symbol against Egypt and ^[s]^(AV)Cush, ⁴so the ^(AW)king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, ^(AX)young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the ^[t]shame of Egypt. ⁵Then they will be ^(AY)terrified and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their ^(AZ)pride. ⁶So the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, ‘Behold, such is our hope, where we fled ^(BA)for help to be saved from the king of Assyria; and ^(BB)how are we ourselves to escape?’”

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

21 The ^(BC)pronouncement concerning the ^[u]^(BD)wilderness of the sea:

As ^(BE)windstorms in the ^[v]Negev come in turns,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
²A ^(BF)harsh vision has been shown to me;
The ^(BG)treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, ^(BH)Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have put an end to all ^[w]the groaning she has caused.
³For this reason my ^(BI)loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a ^(BJ)woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
⁴My ^[x]mind reels, ^[y]horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been ^(BK)turned into trembling for me.
⁵They ^(BL)set the table, they ^[z]spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields!”

⁶For this is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, station the lookout, have him ^(BM)report what he sees.
⁷When he sees ^[aa]a ^(BN)column of chariots, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
He is to pay close attention, very close attention.”

⁸Then ^[ab]the lookout called,

“^(BO)Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
⁹Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “^(BP)Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the ^(BQ)images of her gods ^[ac]are shattered on the ground.”
¹⁰My ^(BR)downtrodden people, and my ^[ad]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of armies,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Pronouncements about Edom and Arabia

¹¹The pronouncement concerning ^[ae]^(BS)Edom:

One keeps calling to me from ^(BT)Seir,
“Watchman, ^[af]how far gone is the night?
Watchman, ^[ag]how far gone is the night?”
¹²The watchman says,
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”

¹³The pronouncement about ^(BU)Arabia:

In the thickets of Arabia you ^[ah]must spend the night,
You caravans of ^(BV)Dedanites.
¹⁴Bring water ^[ai]for the thirsty,
You inhabitants of the land of ^(BW)Tema;
Meet the fugitive with bread.
¹⁵For they have ^(BX)fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow,
And from the press of battle.

¹⁶For this is what the Lord said to me: “In a ^(BY)year, as ^[aj]a hired worker would count it, all the splendor of ^(BZ)Kedar will come to an end; ¹⁷and the ^(CA)remainder of the number of bowmen, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel ^(CB)has spoken.”