Isaiah 19:1-15
New American Standard Bible
Message to Egypt
19 The (A)pronouncement concerning (B)Egypt:
Behold, the Lord is (C)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The (D)idols of Egypt will tremble 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 fight, (F)each against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confuse their strategy,
So that (G)they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead,
And to [a]mediums and spiritists.
4 Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a (H)cruel master,
And a [b]mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord [c]God of armies.
5 (I)The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
6 The [d](J)canals will emit a stench,
The [e](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 [f]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 grieve,
And all those who cast a [g]line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will dwindle away.
9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white (O)cloth will be [h]utterly dejected.
10 And [i]the (P)pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.
11 The officials of [j](Q)Zoan are mere fools;
The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become [k]stupid.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the (R)wise, a son of ancient kings”?
12 Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them [l]understand what the Lord of armies
Has (S)planned against Egypt.
13 The officials of [m]Zoan have turned out to be fools,
The officials of (T)Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the (U)cornerstone of her tribes
Have [n]led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of (V)distortion;
(W)They have led Egypt astray in all [o]that it does,
As a (X)drunken person [p]staggers in his vomit.
15 There will be no work for Egypt
(Y)Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:3 Or ghosts and spirits
- Isaiah 19:4 Or fierce
- Isaiah 19:4 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 19:6 Lit rivers
- Isaiah 19:6 Or Nile branches; i.e., the delta
- Isaiah 19:7 Or mouth
- Isaiah 19:8 Lit hook
- Isaiah 19:9 Lit ashamed
- Isaiah 19:10 Lit her pillars; or her weavers
- 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 19:1-15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
An Oracle concerning Egypt
19 An oracle concerning Egypt.
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.
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.