Isaiah Chapter 19
1 Oracle About Egypt
Yahveh is riding a swift cloud to Egypt;
Egypt’s idols tremble in his presence;
the Egyptians’ hearts melt.
2 “I’ll pit the Egyptians against one another,
brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor;
city against city, district against district.
3 They’ll be demoralized;
I’ll confuse their strategy
so they’ll resort to their idols and spirits of the dead,
to mediums and spiritists.
4 I’ll deliver them to a cruel master;
a powerful king will rule them,”
the Lord Yahveh of Hosts says. Is 19:1-4
5 The Nile will dry up;
its riverbed will be parched and dry.
6 The canals from the Nile will get foul;
the braiding streams in the delta will trickle and dry up;
reeds and rushes will rot.
7 Bulrushes by the Nile and the sown fields beside it
will dry up and disappear.
8 Fishermen will chant a dirge;
the ones that cast lines in the Nile will mourn;
those who spread nets on the water will lose heart.
9 The ones that manufacture linen from combed flax
or weave white cloth will despair.
10 Business owners will go bankrupt;
their hired laborers will grieve.
Is 19:5-10
11 The officials in Zoan are simply fools;
Pharaoh’s best advisors give stupid advice.
How can you brag to Pharaoh
that you’re wise, descendants of ancient kings?
12 Where are your wise men, Pharaoh?
Let them understand, have them tell you
what Yahveh of Hosts has planned for Egypt.
13 The officials in Zoan are simply fools;
the nobles in Memphis are deluded;
the cornerstones of its tribes have misled the country.
14 Yahveh has stirred up confusion in them,
they’ve led Egypt astray in everything it’s doing,
like a drunk staggering in his vomit.
15 There’s nothing helpless Egypt can do
with its head or tail, palm branch or reed.
Is 19:11-15
16 The Egyptians will be like women then, cringing with fear as the fist of Yahveh of Hosts shakes over them. 17 Judah will terrorize Egypt. They’ll dread hearing Judah mentioned because Yahveh has laid out his purpose against them.
18 At that time, five cities in Egypt will start speaking Hebrew and swear allegiance to Yahveh of Hosts—Heliopolis for one. 19 There’ll be an altar to him in Egypt and a monument to him at its border, 20 a sign and witness. When they call out to him against oppressors, he’ll send them a champion to rescue them. 21 That’s how he’ll make himself known to them. They’ll even worship with sacrifice and offering, take vows to him and keep them. 22 He’ll strike Egypt, striking then healing them, so they’ll come back to him. 23-24 A highway then will run from Egypt to Assyria, and people will travel to each other and worship together. Israel will be the third member in an alliance with Egypt and Assyria, with Yahveh’s blessing located between the two. 25 “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, Israel my permanent possession.”
Is 19:16-25