Isaiah 19:1-15
English Standard Version
An Oracle Concerning Egypt
19 An (A)oracle concerning (B)Egypt.
Behold, the Lord (C)is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and (D)the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will (E)melt within them.
2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
(F)and they will fight, each against another
and each against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
3 and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound[a] their (G)counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and (H)the mediums and the necromancers;
4 and I will give over the Egyptians
into the hand of (I)a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
declares the Lord God of hosts.
5 And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will be dry and parched,
6 and its canals will become foul,
and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up,
reeds and rushes will rot away.
7 There will be bare places by the Nile,
on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
will be driven away, and will be no more.
8 The (J)fishermen will mourn and lament,
all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
who spread nets on the water.
9 The workers in (K)combed flax will be in despair,
and the weavers of white cotton.
10 Those who are the (L)pillars of the land will be crushed,
and all who (M)work for pay will be grieved.
11 The princes of (N)Zoan are utterly foolish;
the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise,
a son of ancient kings”?
12 Where then are your (O)wise men?
Let them tell you
that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of (P)Zoan have become fools,
and the princes of (Q)Memphis are deluded;
those who are the (R)cornerstones of her tribes
have made Egypt stagger.
14 The Lord has mingled within her (S)a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
(T)as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt
that (U)head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:3 Or I will swallow up
Isaiah 19:1-15
Common English Bible
Concerning Egypt
19 An oracle about Egypt.
Look! The Lord is riding upon a swift cloud,
and is coming to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols will tremble before God;
the Egyptians’ hearts will melt within them.
2 I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian,
and they will fight,
one against another,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
kingdom against kingdom.
3 Egypt’s spirit will fail from within;
I will frustrate their plans.
They will consult the idols and spirits
and ghosts and fortune-tellers.
4 I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master;
a strong king will rule them, says the Lord God of heavenly forces.
5 The waters of the sea will dry up;
the river will be parched and bare.
6 The rivers will stink;
the streams will shrink and dry;
reeds and rushes will decay.
7 Grass around the Nile, the grass at the mouth of the Nile,
and all the sown land of the Nile
will dry up, blow away, and be no more.
8 Those who fish will lament;
all who cast fishhooks in the Nile will mourn,
and those who spread nets on the water will pine away.
9 Workers with flax will be dismayed;
carders and weavers will grow pale.[a]
10 Makers of cloth will be crushed;
all who earn money will become distressed.
11 The officials of Tanis are fools;
the wisest of Pharaoh’s counselors give stupid advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I’m a wise person,
one of the ancient kings”?
12 Where now are your wise ones?
Let them tell you,
let them inform you what the Lord of heavenly forces has planned concerning Egypt.
13 The officials of Tanis have become fools;
the princes of Memphis are deluded;
the tribal chiefs have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has poured into them a spirit of confusion.
They will make Egypt stumble in everything it does,
just as a drunk stumbles in his vomit.
15 Neither head nor tail, palm branch nor reed
will be able to do anything for Egypt.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:9 DSS (1QIsaa)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible