Isaiah 19
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
19 The mournful, inspired prediction (a burden to be lifted up) concerning Egypt: Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.
2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, every one against his brother and every one against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of the Egyptians within them will become exhausted and emptied out and will fail, and I will destroy their counsel and confound their plans; and they will seek counsel from the idols and the sorcerers, and from those having familiar spirits (the mediums) and the wizards.
4 And I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard and cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them, says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the Nile, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
6 And the rivers shall become foul, the streams and canals of Egypt shall be diminished and dried up, the reeds and the rushes shall wither and rot away.
7 The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile shall become dry, be blown away, and be no more.
8 The fishermen will lament, and all who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn; and they who spread nets upon the waters will languish.
9 Moreover, they who work with combed flax and they who weave white [cotton] cloth will be confounded and in despair.
10 [Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed, and all those who work for hire or who build dams will be grieved.
11 The princes of Zoan [ancient capital of the Pharaohs] are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become witless (stupid). How can you say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?
12 Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now [if they are so wise], and let them make known what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt [if they can].
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis are confused and deceived; those who are the cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has mingled a spirit of perverseness, error, and confusion within her; [her leaders] have caused Egypt to stagger in all her doings, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 Neither can any work [done singly or by concerted action] accomplish anything for Egypt, whether by head or tail, palm branch or rush [high or low].
16 In that day will the Egyptians be like women [timid and helpless]; and they will tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts which He shakes over them.
17 And the land of Judah [allied to Assyria] shall become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom mention of it is made will be afraid and everyone who mentions it—to him will they turn in fear, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He purposes against Egypt.
18 In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Sun or Destruction.
19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border.
20 And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a savior, even a mighty one, and he will deliver them.(A)
21 And the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know (have knowledge of, be acquainted with, give heed to, and cherish) the Lord in that day and will worship with sacrifices of animal and vegetable offerings; they will vow a vow to the Lord and perform it.
22 And the Lord shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing it; and they will return to the Lord, and He will listen to their entreaties and heal them.
23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship [the Lord] with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel shall be the third, with Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth,
25 Whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people and Assyria the work of My hands and Israel My heritage.
Isaiah 19
The Message
Anarchy and Chaos and Killing!
19 A Message concerning Egypt:
Watch this! God riding on a fast-moving cloud,
moving in on Egypt!
The god-idols of Egypt shudder and shake,
Egyptians paralyzed by panic.
2-4 God says, “I’ll make Egyptian fight Egyptian,
brother fight brother, neighbor fight neighbor,
City fight city, kingdom fight kingdom—
anarchy and chaos and killing!
I’ll knock the wind out of the Egyptians.
They won’t know coming from going.
They’ll go to their god-idols for answers;
they’ll conjure ghosts and hold séances, desperate for answers.
But I’ll turn the Egyptians
over to a tyrant most cruel.
I’ll put them under the rule of a mean, merciless king.”
Decree of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
5-10 The River Nile will dry up,
the riverbed baked dry in the sun.
The canals will become stagnant and stink,
every stream touching the Nile dry up.
River vegetation will rot away
the banks of the Nile-baked clay,
The riverbed hard and smooth,
river grasses dried up and gone with the wind.
Fishermen will complain
that the fishing’s been ruined.
Textile workers will be out of work, all weavers
and workers in linen and cotton and wool
Dispirited, depressed in their forced idleness—
everyone who works for a living, jobless.
11-15 The princes of Zoan are fools,
the advisors of Pharaoh stupid.
How could any of you dare tell Pharaoh,
“Trust me: I’m wise. I know what’s going on.
Why, I’m descended from the old wisdom of Egypt”?
There’s not a wise man or woman left in the country.
If there were, one of them would tell you
what God-of-the-Angel-Armies has in mind for Egypt.
As it is, the princes of Zoan are all fools
and the princes of Memphis, idiots.
The honored pillars of your society
have led Egypt into detours and dead ends.
God has scrambled their brains,
Egypt’s become a falling-down-in-his-own-vomit drunk.
Egypt’s hopeless, past helping,
a senile, doddering old fool.
* * *
16-17 On that Day, Egyptians will be like hysterical schoolgirls, screaming at the first hint of action from God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Little Judah will strike terror in Egyptians! Say “Judah” to an Egyptian and see panic. The word triggers fear of the God-of-the-Angel-Armies’ plan against Egypt.
18 On that Day, more than one city in Egypt will learn to speak the language of faith and promise to follow God-of-the-Angel-Armies. One of these cities will be honored with the title “City of the Sun.”
19-22 On that Day, there will be a place of worship to God in the center of Egypt and a monument to God at its border. It will show how the God-of-the-Angel-Armies has helped the Egyptians. When they cry out in prayer to God because of oppressors, he’ll send them help, a savior who will keep them safe and take care of them. God will openly show himself to the Egyptians and they’ll get to know him on that Day. They’ll worship him seriously with sacrifices and burnt offerings. They’ll make vows and keep them. God will wound Egypt, first hit and then heal. Egypt will come back to God, and God will listen to their prayers and heal them, heal them from head to toe.
23 On that Day, there will be a highway all the way from Egypt to Assyria: Assyrians will have free range in Egypt and Egyptians in Assyria. No longer rivals, they’ll worship together, Egyptians and Assyrians!
24-25 On that Day, Israel will take its place alongside Egypt and Assyria, sharing the blessing from the center. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who blessed Israel, will generously bless them all: “Blessed be Egypt, my people! . . . Blessed be Assyria, work of my hands! . . . Blessed be Israel, my heritage!”
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson