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.
Isaiah 19:1-15
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Prophecy About Egypt
19 An oracle against Egypt.
Look, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud, coming to Egypt!
The worthless idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt inside them.
2 I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian,
and they will fight,
brother against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
and kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirit in the Egyptians will fail completely.
I will frustrate their plans.
They will turn to their worthless gods,[a]
to the spirits of the dead,
to mediums and spiritists.
4 But I will hand the Egyptians over to a cruel master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
declares the Lord, the Lord of Armies.
5 The water will dry up from the sea,[b]
and the riverbed will dry up completely and be empty.
6 The rivers and canals will stink.
The streams in the Nile delta[c] will run low and dry up.
Reeds and rushes will wither away.
7 The plants that grow beside the Nile, at the mouth of the Nile,
and all the crops planted along the Nile will dry up.
They will blow away and vanish.
8 The fishermen will mourn.
All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament,
and those who spread nets on the waters will grieve.
9 Those who work with flax,
the women who comb the flax,
and the men who weave the linen will despair.
10 Those who make cloth will be crushed.
All the hired workers will lose heart.
11 The officials of Zoan are complete fools.
Pharaoh’s wisest counselors give unreasonable advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of wise men,
a son of ancient kings”?
12 Where then are your wise men?
Let them tell you now!
Let them make known what the Lord of Armies
has planned against Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan act like fools.
The officials of Memphis[d] are deceived.
They have caused Egypt to go astray—
these cornerstones of her tribes!
14 The Lord has poured a confused spirit into them.
They made Egypt go astray in everything it does,
like a drunken man staggering around in his own vomit.
15 No head or tail, no palm branch or reed,
will accomplish anything for Egypt.
Notas al pie
- Isaiah 19:3 Or gods that are not gods
- Isaiah 19:5 That is, the Nile, which is called a sea because of its size
- Isaiah 19:6 The Hebrew word for Egypt is usually a dual form, indicating two distinct parts, Upper and Lower Egypt, but here it is singular. It probably refers to lower (that is, northern) Egypt, also known as the Delta, which has many branches of the Nile.
- Isaiah 19:13 Hebrew Noph. Many of the English names of Egyptian cities are based on the Greek forms of their names.
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.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.