Isaiah 19:1-15

New International Reader's Version

The Lord is coming to Egypt.
    He’s riding on a cloud that moves very fast.
The statues of the gods in Egypt tremble with fear because of him.
    The hearts of the people there melt with fear.

² The Lord says, “I will stir up one Egyptian against another.
    Relatives will fight against relatives.
    Neighbors will fight against one another.
Cities will fight against cities.
    Kingdoms will fight against one another.
³ The people of Egypt will lose hope.
    I will keep them from doing what they plan to do.
They will ask their gods for advice.
    They will turn to the spirits of dead people for help.
They will go to people who get messages from those who have died.
    They will ask for advice from people who talk to the spirits of the dead.
⁴ I will hand the Egyptians over
    to a mean and unkind master.
A powerful king will rule over them,” announces the Lord.
    He is the Lord who rules over all.

⁵ The waters of the Nile River will dry up.
    The bottom of it will be cracked and dry.
⁶ Its canals will stink.
    And the streams of Egypt will get smaller and smaller
    until they dry up.
The tall grass that grows along the river will dry up.
⁷     So will the plants along the banks of the Nile.
Even the planted fields along the Nile will dry up.
    Everything that grows there will blow away and disappear.
⁸ The fishermen will moan.
    All those who drop hooks into the Nile will weep.
Those who throw their nets on the water
    will become very sad.
⁹ Those who make clothes out of flax will lose hope.
    So will those who weave fine linen.
¹⁰ Those who work with cloth will be unhappy.
    And all those who work for money will be sick at heart.

¹¹ The officials of the city of Zoan are very foolish.
    Pharaoh’s wise men give advice that doesn’t make any sense.
How can they dare to say to Pharaoh,
    “We’re among the wise men”?
How can they say to him,
    “We’re like the advisers to the kings of long ago”?

¹² Pharaoh, where are your wise men now?
    Let them tell you
what the Lord who rules over all
    has planned against Egypt.
¹³ The officials of Zoan have become foolish.
    The leaders of Memphis have been lied to.
The most important leaders in Egypt
    have led its people astray.
¹⁴ The Lord has given them
    a spirit that makes them feel dizzy.
They make Egypt unsteady in everything it does.
    Egypt is like a person who drinks too much.
    He throws up and then walks around in the mess he’s made.
¹⁵ No one in Egypt can do anything to help them.
    Its elders and important leaders can’t help them.
Its prophets and priests can’t do anything.
    Those who rule over others can’t help.
    And those who bow down to them can’t help either.