Isaiah 19
19
A Prophecy Against Egypt
1Here is a prophecy against Egypt that the Lord gave me.
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.
2The 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.
3The 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.
4I 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.
5The waters of the Nile River will dry up.
The bottom of it will be cracked and dry.
6Its 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.
7So 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.
8The 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.
9Those who make clothes out of flax will lose hope.
So will those who weave fine linen.
10Those who work with cloth will be unhappy.
And all those who work for money will be sick at heart.
11The 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”?
12Pharaoh, where are your wise men now?
Let them tell you
what the Lord who rules over all
has planned against Egypt.
13The 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.
14The 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.
15No 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.
16In days to come, the people of Egypt will become weak. The Lord who rules over all will raise his hand against them. Then they will tremble with fear. 17The people of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians. Everyone in Egypt who hears the name of Judah will be terrified. That’s because of what the Lord who rules over all is planning to do to them.
18At that time the people of five cities in Egypt will worship the Lord. He is the Lord who rules over all. They will use the Hebrew language when they worship him. They will promise to be faithful to him. One of those cities will be called the City of the Sun.
19At that time there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of Egypt. There will be a monument to him at its border. 20They will remind people that the Lord who rules over all is worshiped in Egypt. The people there will cry out to the Lord. They will cry out because of those who treat them badly. He will send someone to stand up for them and save them. And he will set them free. 21So the Lord will make himself known to the people of Egypt. At that time they will recognize that he is the Lord. They will worship him by bringing sacrifices and grain offerings to him. They will make promises to the Lord. And they will keep them. 22The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague. But then he will heal them. They will turn to the Lord. And he will answer their prayers and heal them.
23At that time there will be a wide road from Egypt to Assyria. The people of Assyria will go to Egypt. And the people of Egypt will go to Assyria. The people of Egypt and Assyria will worship the Lord together. 24At that time Egypt, Assyria and Israel will be a blessing to the whole earth. 25The Lord who rules over all will bless those three nations. He will say, “Let the Egyptians be blessed. They are my people. Let the Assyrians be blessed. My hands created them. And let the Israelites be blessed. They are my very own people.”
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Isaiah 19: NIrV
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Isaiah 19
19
God will Punish Egypt
1 #
Jer 46.2–26; Ezek 29.1—32.32 This is a message about Egypt.
The LORD is coming to Egypt, riding swiftly on a cloud. The Egyptian idols tremble before him, and the people of Egypt lose their courage. 2The LORD says, “I will stir up civil war in Egypt and turn brother against brother and neighbour against neighbour. Rival cities will fight each other, and rival kings will struggle for power. 3I am going to frustrate the plans of the Egyptians and destroy their morale. They will ask their idols to help them, and they will go and consult mediums and ask the spirits of the dead for advice. 4I will hand the Egyptians over to a tyrant, to a cruel king who will rule them. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken.”
5The water will be low in the Nile, and the river will gradually dry up. 6The channels of the river will stink as they slowly go dry. Reeds and rushes will wither, 7and all the crops sown along the banks of the Nile will dry up and be blown away. 8Everyone who earns his living by fishing in the Nile will groan and cry; their hooks and their nets will be useless. 9Those who make linen cloth will be in despair; 10weavers and skilled workers will be broken and depressed.
11The leaders of the city of Zoan are fools! Egypt's wisest people give stupid advice! How dare they tell the king that they are successors to the ancient scholars and kings? 12King of Egypt, where are those clever advisers of yours? Perhaps they can tell you what plans the LORD Almighty has for Egypt. 13The leaders of Zoan and Memphis are fools. They were supposed to lead the nation, but they have misled it. 14The LORD has made them give confusing advice. As a result, Egypt does everything wrong and staggers like a drunken man slipping on his own vomit. 15No one in Egypt, rich or poor, important or unknown, can offer help.
Egypt will Worship the LORD
16A time is coming when the people of Egypt will be as timid as women. They will tremble in terror when they see that the LORD Almighty has stretched out his hand to punish them. 17The people of Egypt will be terrified of Judah every time they are reminded of the fate that the LORD Almighty has prepared for them.
18When that time comes, the Hebrew language will be spoken in five Egyptian cities. The people there will take their oaths in the name of the LORD Almighty. One of the cities will be called, “City of the Sun”.
19When that time comes, there will be an altar to the LORD in the land of Egypt and a stone pillar dedicated to him at the Egyptian border. 20They will be symbols of the LORD Almighty's presence in Egypt. When the people there are oppressed and call out to the LORD for help, he will send someone to rescue them. 21The LORD will reveal himself to the Egyptian people, and then they will acknowledge and worship him, and bring him sacrifices and offerings. They will make solemn promises to him and do what they promise. 22The LORD will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them. They will turn to him, and he will hear their prayers and heal them.
23When that time comes, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. The people of those two countries will travel to and fro between them, and the two nations will worship together. 24When that time comes, Israel will rank with Egypt and Assyria, and these three nations will be a blessing to all the world. 25The LORD Almighty will bless them and say, “I will bless you, Egypt, my people; you, Assyria, whom I created; and you, Israel, my chosen people.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.