Isaiah 19
New Living Translation
A Message about Egypt
19 This message came to me concerning Egypt:
Look! The Lord is advancing against Egypt,
riding on a swift cloud.
The idols of Egypt tremble.
The hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.
2 “I will make Egyptian fight against Egyptian—
brother against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
province against province.
3 The Egyptians will lose heart,
and I will confuse their plans.
They will plead with their idols for wisdom
and call on spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead.
4 I will hand Egypt over
to a hard, cruel master.
A fierce king will rule them,”
says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
5 The waters of the Nile will fail to rise and flood the fields.
The riverbed will be parched and dry.
6 The canals of the Nile will dry up,
and the streams of Egypt will stink
with rotting reeds and rushes.
7 All the greenery along the riverbank
and all the crops along the river
will dry up and blow away.
8 The fishermen will lament for lack of work.
Those who cast hooks into the Nile will groan,
and those who use nets will lose heart.
9 There will be no flax for the harvesters,
no thread for the weavers.
10 They will be in despair,
and all the workers will be sick at heart.
11 What fools are the officials of Zoan!
Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is stupid and wrong.
Will they still boast to Pharaoh of their wisdom?
Will they dare brag about all their wise ancestors?
12 Where are your wise counselors, Pharaoh?
Let them tell you what God plans,
what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is going to do to Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan are fools,
and the officials of Memphis[a] are deluded.
The leaders of the people
have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has sent a spirit of foolishness on them,
so all their suggestions are wrong.
They cause Egypt to stagger
like a drunk in his vomit.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do.
All are helpless—
the head and the tail,
the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.
16 In that day the Egyptians will be as weak as women. They will cower in fear beneath the upraised fist of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 17 Just to speak the name of Israel will terrorize them, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has laid out his plans against them.
18 In that day five of Egypt’s cities will follow the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. They will even begin to speak Hebrew, the language of Canaan. One of these cities will be Heliopolis, the City of the Sun.[b]
19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and there will be a monument to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is worshiped in the land of Egypt. When the people cry to the Lord for help against those who oppress them, he will send them a savior who will rescue them. 21 The Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. Yes, they will know the Lord and will give their sacrifices and offerings to him. They will make a vow to the Lord and will keep it. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, and then he will bring healing. For the Egyptians will turn to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas and heal them.
23 In that day Egypt and Assyria will be connected by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will move freely between their lands, and they will both worship God. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. 25 For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will say, “Blessed be Egypt, my people. Blessed be Assyria, the land I have made. Blessed be Israel, my special possession!”
Isaiah 19
Legacy Standard Bible
An Oracle Concerning Egypt
19 The [a](A)oracle concerning (B)Egypt.
Behold, Yahweh is (C)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The (D)idols of Egypt will shake 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 (F)each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied to destruction within them;
And I will confuse their counsel,
So that (G)they will seek idols and ghosts of the dead
And to [b]mediums and spiritists.
4 Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a (H)cruel master,
And a [c]strong king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.
5 (I)The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
6 The (J)rivers will emit a stench,
The [d](K)streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
(L)The reeds and rushes will rot away.
7 The bulrushes by the (M)Nile, by the [e]edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
8 And the (N)fishermen will lament,
And all those who cast a [f]line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will [g]languish.
9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white (O)cloth will be ashamed.
10 And [h]the (P)pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.
11 The princes of [i](Q)Zoan are merely ignorant fools;
The counsel of Pharaoh’s wisest counselors has become [j]senseless.
How can you men say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the (R)wise, a son of the kings of old”?
12 Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them [k]understand what Yahweh of hosts
Has (S)counseled against Egypt.
13 The princes of [l]Zoan have acted as ignorant fools,
The princes of (T)Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the (U)cornerstone of her tribes
[m]Have led Egypt astray.
14 Yahweh has mixed within her a spirit of (V)distortion;
(W)They have led Egypt astray in all [n]that it does,
As a (X)drunken man [o]strays into his vomit.
15 There will be no work for Egypt
(Y)Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.
Yahweh Will Bless Egypt, Assyria, and Israel
16 In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in (Z)dread because of the (AA)waving of the hand of Yahweh of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. 17 And the land of Judah will become a [p]terror to Egypt; everyone [q]to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it because of the (AB)counsel of Yahweh of hosts which He is counseling against them.
18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and (AC)swearing allegiance to Yahweh of hosts; one will be called the City of [r]Destruction.
19 In that day there will be an (AD)altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a (AE)pillar to Yahweh near its border. 20 And it will become a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and He will send them a (AF)Savior and a [s](AG)Champion, and He will deliver them. 21 Thus Yahweh will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day. They will even worship with (AH)sacrifice and offering, and they will make a vow to Yahweh and pay it. 22 And Yahweh will smite Egypt, smiting but (AI)healing; so they will (AJ)return to Yahweh, and He will be moved by their entreaty and will heal them.
23 In that day there will be a (AK)highway 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.
24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom Yahweh of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is (AM)Egypt My people, and Assyria (AN)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:1 Or burden of
- Isaiah 19:3 Or ghosts and spirits
- Isaiah 19:4 Or fierce
- Isaiah 19:6 The delta; or Nile branches
- Isaiah 19:7 Or mouth
- Isaiah 19:8 Lit hook
- Isaiah 19:8 Or pine away
- Isaiah 19:10 Lit her pillars
- Isaiah 19:11 Or Tanis
- Isaiah 19:11 Or brutish
- Isaiah 19:12 Or know
- Isaiah 19:13 Or Tanis
- Isaiah 19:13 Or Have caused Egypt to stagger
- Isaiah 19:14 Lit its work
- Isaiah 19:14 Or goes astray
- Isaiah 19:17 Or cause of shame
- Isaiah 19:17 Lit who mentions it will be in dread to it
- Isaiah 19:18 Some ancient mss and versions the Sun
- Isaiah 19:20 Lit Mighty One
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.