Isaiah 19
Lexham English Bible
Oracle of Judgment on Egypt
19 An oracle of Egypt:
Look! Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud
and is coming to Egypt.
And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him,
and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts.
2 “And I will stir up Egyptians[a] against Egyptians,[b]
and each one will fight against his brother
and each one against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of the Egyptians[c] will be disturbed in his midst,
and I will confuse[d] his plans,[e]
and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
and the ghosts and the spiritists.
4 And I will hand over the Egyptians[f] into the hand of a hard master,
and a powerful king will rule over them,”
declares[g] the Lord Yahweh of hosts.
5 And the waters will be dried up from the sea,
and the river will be parched and dry.
6 And the rivers will become foul-smelling;
the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up;
reed and rush will wither.
7 Bare places by the Nile will be dried up,
by the edge of the Nile and all the sown land of the Nile;
it will be driven about, and it will be no more.[h]
8 And the fishers will mourn,
and all of those who cast fishhooks[i] in the Nile will lament,
and those who spread out fishing nets[j] on the surface[k] of the water will languish.
9 And the workers of combed flax will be ashamed,
and those who weave white linen.
10 And her weavers will be crushed;
all the hired workers[l] will be grieved of heart.
11 Surely the princes of Zoan are foolish;
the wise of the counselors of Pharaoh give senseless counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I myself am a son of sages,
a descendant[m] of ancient kings”?
12 Where are your sages then?
Now, let them tell you,
and let them know what Yahweh of hosts has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become foolish;
the princes of Memphis are deceived;
the leaders of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
14 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of confusion into her midst,
and they have caused Egypt to stagger in all of its doings,
as when a drunkard staggers[n] in his vomit.
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt to do,[o]
head or tail, palm branch or reed.
The Future Blessing of Egypt, Assyria, and Egypt
16 On that day, Egypt will be like women, and will tremble and be afraid before the waving hand of Yahweh of hosts that he is waving against it. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it will be afraid in himself because of the plan of Yahweh of hosts that he is planning against him.
18 On that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language[p] of Canaan and swear an oath to Yahweh of hosts. One will be called “City of the Sun.”
19 On that day, there will be an altar for Yahweh in in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a stone pillar for Yahweh at her border. 20 And it will be a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to Yahweh because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and a defender,[q] and he will deliver them. 21 And Yahweh will make himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know Yahweh on that day, and they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows[r] to Yahweh, and they will fulfill them. 22 And Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing; and they will return to Yahweh, and he will respond to their prayer, and he will heal them.
23 On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt will worship together with Assyria.
24 On that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, “May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:2 Literally “Egypt”
- Isaiah 19:2 Literally “Egypt”
- Isaiah 19:3 Literally “Egypt”
- Isaiah 19:3 Literally “engulf”
- Isaiah 19:3 Hebrew “plan”
- Isaiah 19:4 Literally “Egypt”
- Isaiah 19:4 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 19:7 Literally “there is none of it”
- Isaiah 19:8 Hebrew “fishhook”
- Isaiah 19:8 Hebrew “net”
- Isaiah 19:8 Literally “face”
- Isaiah 19:10 Literally “workers of wage”
- Isaiah 19:11 Literally “son”
- Isaiah 19:14 Literally “the staggering of a drunkard”
- Isaiah 19:15 Literally “not it will be for Egypt a deed which he can do”
- Isaiah 19:18 Literally “lip”
- Isaiah 19:20 Literally “contender”
- Isaiah 19:21 Hebrew “vow”
Isaiah 19
New King James Version
Proclamation Against Egypt
19 The (A)burden[a] against Egypt.
Behold, the Lord (B)rides on a swift cloud,
And will come into Egypt;
(C)The idols of Egypt will [b]totter at His presence,
And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.
2 “I will (D)set Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst;
I will destroy their counsel,
And they will (E)consult the idols and the charmers,
The mediums and the sorcerers.
4 And the Egyptians I will give
(F)Into the hand of a cruel master,
And a fierce king will rule over them,”
Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
5 (G)The waters will fail from the sea,
And the river will be wasted and dried up.
6 The rivers will turn foul;
The brooks (H)of defense will be emptied and dried up;
The reeds and rushes will wither.
7 The papyrus reeds by [c]the River, by the mouth of the River,
And everything sown by the River,
Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishermen also will mourn;
All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,
And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.
9 Moreover those who work in (I)fine flax
And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;
10 And its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.
11 Surely the princes of (J)Zoan are fools;
Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.
(K)How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?”
12 (L)Where are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the Lord of hosts has (M)purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools;
(N)The princes of [d]Noph are deceived;
They have also [e]deluded Egypt,
Those who are the [f]mainstay of its tribes.
14 The Lord has mingled (O)a perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which (P)the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.
16 In that day Egypt will (Q)be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, (R)which He waves over it. 17 And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has (S)determined against it.
Egypt, Assyria, and Israel Blessed
18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will (T)speak the language of Canaan and (U)swear by the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of [g]Destruction.
19 In that day (V)there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the (W)Lord at its border. 20 And (X)it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a (Y)Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. 21 Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will (Z)know the Lord in that day, and (AA)will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and (AB)heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.
23 In that day (AC)there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will (AD)serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria (AE)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 19:1 Lit. shake
- Isaiah 19:7 The Nile
- Isaiah 19:13 Ancient Memphis
- Isaiah 19:13 Lit. caused to stagger
- Isaiah 19:13 cornerstone
- Isaiah 19:18 Some Heb. mss., Arab., DSS, Tg., Vg. Sun; LXX Asedek, lit. Righteousness
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
