Isaiah 19
Holman Christian Standard Bible
An Oracle against Egypt
19 An oracle(A) against Egypt:(B)
Look, the Lord rides on a swift cloud(C)
and is coming to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols will tremble before Him,(D)
and Egypt’s heart will melt within it.(E)
2 I will provoke Egypt against Egypt;
each will fight against his brother(F)
and each against his friend,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.(G)
3 Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it,
and I will frustrate its plans.
Then they will seek idols, ghosts,
spirits of the dead, and spiritists.(H)
4 I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh masters,(I)
and a strong king will rule it.
This is the declaration of the Lord God of Hosts.
5 The waters of the sea will dry up,
and the river will be parched and dry.
6 The channels will stink;
they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched.
Reed and rush will die.[a]
7 The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river,
and all the cultivated areas of the Nile
will wither, blow away, and vanish.
8 Then the fishermen will mourn.
All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament,
and those who spread nets on the water will shrivel up.
9 Those who work with flax will be dismayed;(J)
the combers and weavers will turn pale.[b]
10 Egypt’s weavers[c] will be dejected;
all her wage earners will be demoralized.
11 The princes of Zoan are complete fools;(K)
Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice!
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one[d] of the wise,
a student of eastern[e] kings”?
12 Where then are your wise men?
Let them tell you and reveal
what the Lord of Hosts has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have been fools;
the princes of Memphis are deceived.(L)
Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of confusion.
The leaders have made Egypt stagger in all she does,
as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.
15 No head or tail, palm or reed,(M)
will be able to do anything for Egypt.
Egypt Will Know the Lord
16 On that day Egypt will be like women. She will tremble with fear because of the threatening hand of the Lord of Hosts when He raises it against her. 17 The land of Judah will terrify Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble because of what the Lord of Hosts has planned(N) against it.
18 On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to the Lord of Hosts. One of the cities will be called the City of the Sun.[f][g]
19 On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the center of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord near her border.(O) 20 It will be a sign and witness to the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and leader, and he will rescue them.(P) 21 The Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know the Lord on that day. They will offer sacrifices and offerings;(Q) they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing. Then they will return to the Lord and He will hear their prayers and heal them.
23 On that day there will be a highway(R) from Egypt to Assyria. Assyria will go to Egypt, Egypt to Assyria, and Egypt will worship with Assyria.
24 On that day Israel will form a triple alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing within the land. 25 The Lord of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork,(S) and Israel My inheritance are blessed.”(T)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:6 Or wilt, or become black
- Isaiah 19:9 DSS, Tg; MT reads weavers of white cloth
- Isaiah 19:10 Or foundations
- Isaiah 19:11 Lit a son
- Isaiah 19:11 Lit a son of ancient
- Isaiah 19:18 Some Hb mss, DSS, Sym, Tg, Vg, Arabic; other Hb mss read of Destruction; LXX reads of Righteousness
- Isaiah 19:18 = the ancient Egyptian city Heliopolis
Isaiah 19
International Standard Version
A Rebuke to Egypt
19 A message[a] about Egypt:
“Watch out! The Lord rides on a swift cloud,
and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
2 I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
and everyone will fight against his brother,
everyone against his neighbor,
city[b] against city,
kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirits of the Egyptians within them will be drained of courage,[c]
and I will bring their plans to nothing.
They will consult idols[d] and spirits of the dead,
and mediums and spiritists.
4 I will hand the Egyptians over
to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,”
declares the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.
A Rebuke to Egypt’s Ecology and Industry
5 “The water sources[e] of the Nile[f] will be dried up,
and the river[g] will become dry and parched.
6 The canals will stink,
and[h] the tributaries of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.
Reeds and rushes will wither away.[i]
7 And the bulrushes along the Nile,[j]
along the mouth of the Nile,[k] will wither away.
All the sown fields of the Nile will become parched,
and[l] they will be blown away;
there will be nothing left.[m]
8 The fishermen will groan,
and all who cast hooks into the Nile will lament;
those who spread nets upon the water
will become weaker and weaker.
9 The workers[n] in combed flax
and the weavers of white linen
will be in despair.
10 Egypt’s[o] workers in cloth[p] will be crushed,
and all who work for wages will be sick at heart.”
A Rebuke to Egypt’s Leaders
11 Zoan’s princes are nothing but fools;
the wisest advisors of Pharaoh give stupid advice.
How can you say to 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 make known
what the Lord[q] has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools,
and the princes of Memphis deluded;
the leaders[r] of its tribes
have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has mixed[s] within them[t] a spirit of confusion;
so they make Egypt stagger in all that it does,
like a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.
15 As a result, there will be nothing for Egypt
that head or tail, palm branch or reed, can do.[u]
Egypt and Syria Will Worship God
16 At that time,[v] the Egyptians will be like women—they[w] will shudder and be afraid before the uplifted hand of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, when he brandishes his hand against her.[x] 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will be afraid, because of the uplifted hand[y] of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies that[z] is turning in their direction.
18 At that time,[aa] there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.[ab]
19 At that time,[ac] there will be an altar to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies[ad] in the heart of the land of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord[ae] at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior, and he will come down[af] and rescue them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will acknowledge the Lord.
At that time,[ag] they will worship[ah] with sacrifices and offerings, and they will make vows to the Lord and carry them out. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague, striking but then healing. Then they will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
23 At that time,[ai] there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and they[aj] will worship with the Assyrians.
24 At that time,[ak] Israel will be in a triple alliance[al] with Egypt and Assyria; they will be[am] a blessing in the midst of the earth. 25 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:1 Lit. An oracle
- Isaiah 19:2 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack and
- Isaiah 19:3 1QIsaa MT lack of courage
- Isaiah 19:3 So 1QIsaa; MT reads consult the idols; LXX reads consult their idols
- Isaiah 19:5 1QIsaa MT lack sources
- Isaiah 19:5 Or the sea
- Isaiah 19:5 I.e. the Nile
- Isaiah 19:6 So 1QIsaa LXX; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 19:6 So 4QIsab MT; 1QIsaa lacks this line
- Isaiah 19:7 So 1QIsaa MT; LXX lacks this line
- Isaiah 19:7 Lit. the River
- Isaiah 19:7 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 19:7 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT read and will be no more; LXX lacks this line
- Isaiah 19:9 So 1QIsaa 4QIsab; MT LXX read And the workers
- Isaiah 19:10 Lit. Its
- Isaiah 19:10 Lit. Its weavers
- Isaiah 19:12 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsaa corrector MT LXX read Lord of the Heavenly Armies
- Isaiah 19:13 Or cornerstones
- Isaiah 19:14 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsab reads has poured
- Isaiah 19:14 Lit. it
- Isaiah 19:15 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsab reads do at that time
- Isaiah 19:16 Lit. On that day; so 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsab lacks At that time
- Isaiah 19:16 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT read he
- Isaiah 19:16 I.e. Egypt; so 1QIsaa; MT reads Armies, which he brandishes against it; LXX reads Armies, which he brandishes against them
- Isaiah 19:17 Lit. plotting; so 4QIsab; 1QIsaa MT LXX read plan
- Isaiah 19:17 So 4QIsab; 1QIsaa MT LXX read hand that the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
- Isaiah 19:18 Lit. On that day
- Isaiah 19:18 So 1QIsaa 4QIsab MTmss; MT reads Destruction; LXX reads Asedek City; i.e. City of Righteousness
- Isaiah 19:19 Lit. On that day
- Isaiah 19:19 So 4QIsab; 1QIsaa MT LXX lack of the Heavenly Armies
- Isaiah 19:19 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsab reads Lord of hosts
- Isaiah 19:20 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read will defend
- Isaiah 19:21 Lit. On that day
- Isaiah 19:21 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Lord on that day. And they will worship
- Isaiah 19:23 Lit. On that day
- Isaiah 19:23 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT LXX read and the Egyptians
- Isaiah 19:24 Lit. On that day
- Isaiah 19:24 Lit. will be the third
- Isaiah 19:24 DSS MT lack they will be
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