See, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud
    and comes to Egypt;
the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
    and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.^(A)
2 I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
    and they will fight, one against the other,
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city, kingdom against kingdom;^(B)
3 the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
    and I will confound their plans;
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead
    and the ghosts and the familiar spirits;^(C)
4 I will deliver the Egyptians
    into the hand of a hard master;
a fierce king will rule over them,
    says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts.^(D)

⁵ The waters of the Nile will be dried up,
    and the river will be parched and dry;^(E)
6 its canals will become foul,
    and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up.
Reeds and rushes will rot away,^(F)
7     the reeds beside the Nile;^[a]
all that is sown by the Nile will dry up,
    be driven away, and be no more.
⁸ Those who fish will mourn;
    all who cast hooks in the Nile will lament,
    and those who spread nets on the water will languish.
⁹ The workers in flax will be in despair,
    and the carders and those at the loom will grow pale.
¹⁰ Its weavers will be dismayed,
    and all who work for wages will be grieved.^(G)

¹¹ Clearly the princes of Zoan are foolish;
    the wise counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am one of the sages,
    a descendant of ancient kings”?^(H)
12 Where now are your sages?
    Let them tell you and make known
    what the Lord of hosts has planned against Egypt.^(I)
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools,
    and the princes of Memphis are deluded;
those who are the cornerstones of its tribes
    have led Egypt astray.^(J)
14 The Lord has poured into them^[b]
    a spirit of confusion;
and they have made Egypt stagger in all its doings
    as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.^(K)
15 Neither head nor tail, palm branch or reed,
    will be able to do anything for Egypt.

As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the desert,
    from a terrible land.^(AA)
2 A stern vision is told to me;
    the betrayer betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam;
    lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.^(AB)
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    pangs have seized me
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.^(AC)
4 My mind reels; horror has appalled me;
    the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.^(AD)
5 They prepare the table;
    they spread the rugs;
    they eat; they drink.
Rise up, commanders;
    oil the shield!^(AE)
6 For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, post a lookout;
    let him announce what he sees.
⁷ When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
    riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him watch closely,
    very closely.”^(AF)
8 Then the watcher^[e] called out:
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
    continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
    throughout the night.^(AG)
9 Look, there they come, riders,
    horsemen in pairs!”
Then he responded,
    “Fallen, fallen is Babylon,
and all the images of her gods
    lie shattered on the ground.”^(AH)
10 O my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.^(AI)

One is calling to me from Seir,
    “Sentinel, what of the night?
    Sentinel, what of the night?”^(AJ)
12 The sentinel says:
“Morning comes and also the night.
    If you will inquire, inquire;
    come back again.”

In the scrub of the desert plain you will lodge,
    O caravans of Dedanites.^(AK)
14 Bring water to the thirsty,
    O inhabitants of the land of Tema;
    meet the fugitive with bread.^(AL)
15 For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
    and from the stress of battle.^(AM)