Isaiah 19:1-15
New King James Version
Proclamation Against Egypt
19 The (A)burden[a] against Egypt.
Behold, the Lord (B)rides on a swift cloud,
And will come into Egypt;
(C)The idols of Egypt will [b]totter at His presence,
And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.
2 “I will (D)set Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst;
I will destroy their counsel,
And they will (E)consult the idols and the charmers,
The mediums and the sorcerers.
4 And the Egyptians I will give
(F)Into the hand of a cruel master,
And a fierce king will rule over them,”
Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
5 (G)The waters will fail from the sea,
And the river will be wasted and dried up.
6 The rivers will turn foul;
The brooks (H)of defense will be emptied and dried up;
The reeds and rushes will wither.
7 The papyrus reeds by [c]the River, by the mouth of the River,
And everything sown by the River,
Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishermen also will mourn;
All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,
And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.
9 Moreover those who work in (I)fine flax
And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;
10 And its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.
11 Surely the princes of (J)Zoan are fools;
Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.
(K)How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?”
12 (L)Where are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the Lord of hosts has (M)purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools;
(N)The princes of [d]Noph are deceived;
They have also [e]deluded Egypt,
Those who are the [f]mainstay of its tribes.
14 The Lord has mingled (O)a perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which (P)the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 19:1 Lit. shake
- Isaiah 19:7 The Nile
- Isaiah 19:13 Ancient Memphis
- Isaiah 19:13 Lit. caused to stagger
- Isaiah 19:13 cornerstone
Isaiah 19:1-15
Authorized (King James) Version
19 The burden of Egypt.
Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud,
and shall come into Egypt:
and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence,
and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians:
and they shall fight every one against his brother,
and every one against his neighbour;
city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof;
and I will destroy the counsel thereof:
and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers,
and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord;
and a fierce king shall rule over them,
saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea,
and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
6 And they shall turn the rivers far away;
and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up:
the reeds and flags shall wither.
7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks,
and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither,
be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishers also shall mourn,
and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament,
and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
9 Moreover they that work in fine flax,
and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.
10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof,
all that make sluices and ponds for fish.
11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools,
the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish:
how say ye unto Pharaoh,
I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
12 Where are they? where are thy wise men?
and let them tell thee now, and let them know
what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan are become fools,
the princes of Noph are deceived;
they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
14 The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof:
and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof,
as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt,
which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.