Isaiah 19

¹An oracle concerning Egypt . Behold , the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt ; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence , and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them .

²And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians , and they will fight , each against another and each against his neighbor , city against city , kingdom against kingdom ;

³and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out , and I will confound their counsel ; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers , and the mediums and the necromancers ;

⁴and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master , and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts .

⁵And the waters of the sea will be dried up , and the river will be dry and parched ,

⁶and its canals will become foul , and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up , reeds and rushes will rot away .

⁷There 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 .

⁸The fishermen will mourn and lament , all who cast a hook in the Nile ; and they will languish who spread nets on the water .

⁹The workers in combed flax will be in despair , and the weavers of white cotton .

¹⁰Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed , and all who work for pay will be grieved .

¹¹The princes of 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 ?

¹²Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt .

¹³The princes of Zoan have become fools , and the princes of Memphis are deluded ; those who are the cornerstones of her tribes have made Egypt stagger .

¹⁴The Lord has mingled within her a spirit of confusion , and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds , as a drunken man staggers in his vomit .

¹⁵And there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail , palm branch or reed , may do .

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will be like women , and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them.

¹⁷And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians . Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.

¹⁸In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts . One of these will be called the City of Destruction .

¹⁹In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt , and a pillar to the Lord at its border .

²⁰It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt . When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors , he will send them a savior and defender , and deliver them.

²¹And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians , and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering , and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them.

²²And the Lord will strike Egypt , striking and healing , and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria , and Assyria will come into Egypt , and Egypt into Assyria , and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians .

²⁴In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria , a blessing in the midst of the earth ,

²⁵whom the Lord of hosts has blessed , saying , Blessed be Egypt my people , and Assyria the work of my hands , and Israel my inheritance .