Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Isaiah 19
An Oracle Against Egypt
An oracle concerning Egypt:
Look, the LORD rides a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols tremble before him;
Egypt’s heart melts within it.
“I will stir Egyptian against Egyptian.
They will fight, brother against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
Egypt’s spirit will drain away within it,
and I will swallow up its plans.
They will consult idols and ghosts,
mediums and spiritists.
I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master;
a fierce king will rule them,”
declares the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
The sea’s waters will dry up;
the River will be parched and dry.
The channels will stink;
Egypt’s streams will dwindle and dry.
Reeds and rushes will wither.
The riverbank growth, at the River’s edge,
and every field sown beside it
will dry up, blow away, and be gone.
Fishers will lament;
all who cast hooks into the River will mourn;
those spreading nets on the water will languish.
Those working combed flax
and weaving white cloth will be ashamed.
Its foundations will be crushed;
all wage workers will be sick at heart.
Zoan’s princes are fools;
Pharaoh’s wisest counselors give stupid advice.
How can you tell Pharaoh,
“I am a son of sages, a son of ancient kings”?
Where, then, are your wise men?
Let them tell you, let them know
what the LORD of hosts has planned against Egypt.
Zoan’s princes have become fools;
Memphis’s princes are deceived.
The cornerstones of Egypt’s tribes
have led it astray.
The LORD has mixed a spirit of confusion into it.
They make Egypt stagger in everything it does,
as a drunk staggers in his vomit.
Egypt will have nothing
that head or tail,
palm branch or reed can accomplish.
On that day Egypt will be like women, trembling and terrified before the hand that the LORD of hosts waves against it.
Judah’s land will become a terror to Egypt. Whenever anyone mentions it, Egypt will be afraid because of the plan the LORD of hosts is making against it. On that day five cities in Egypt will speak Canaan’s language and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One will be called City of Destruction. On that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt and a pillar to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the LORD of hosts in Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and champion who will rescue them.
The LORD will make himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD on that day. They will worship with sacrifice and offering, make vows to the LORD, and fulfill them. The LORD will strike Egypt—striking and healing. They will return to the LORD, and he will answer their pleas and heal them. On that day a highway will run from Egypt to Assyria. Assyrians will come to Egypt, and Egyptians to Assyria, and Egypt will worship with Assyria. On that day Israel will be a third alongside Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts blesses, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”