Isaiah 19
19
Chapter 19
A message about Egypt
1This is a message about Egypt.
Look! The Lord is coming to Egypt! He is riding quickly on a cloud and he will soon arrive! The idols of Egypt will shake with fear when he comes. All the people in Egypt will be very afraid.
2‘I will cause Egypt's people to fight against each other. People will fight against their own family. They will fight against their neighbours. Cities and kingdoms will fight against each other. 3The Egyptians will become afraid, so that they do not know what to do. They will ask for help from their idols. They will ask the spirits of dead people to tell them what to do. They will ask magicians to talk to those spirits on their behalf. 4I will cause a cruel master to have power over Egypt. A powerful king will rule over its people.’
That is what the Lord, the Almighty Lord.
5The water of the sea will become dry. The Nile river will also become dry and it will have no water in it. 6The streams will have a bad smell. All the streams and rivers will slowly become dry. The reeds and the river grasses will die. 7The plants beside the river will die, as well as the crops in the fields along the shore. Everything will become dry and the wind will blow it all away.
8The people who catch fish in the Nile river will be very sad. Yes, everyone who throws a hook into the river will cry. The people who throw nets into the river will not catch any fish.
9The people who make linen cloth will not know what to do. There will be no flax for them to use. 10They will be very upset. All the people who work to get money will be sad.
11The royal officers in Zoan are fools! Pharaoh's wise leaders tell him to do stupid things! They should not boast to Pharaoh that they are wise. They should not say that they are descendants of wise kings from long ago.
12Pharaoh, where have your wise men gone? Call them to come! Ask them to tell you what the Lord Almighty has decided to do against Egypt.
13The officers in Zoan are fools. The officers in Memphis have confused each other. The leaders of Egypt's clans have led their people in the wrong direction.
14The Lord has sent among the people in Egypt a spirit that confuses them. They go the wrong way in everything that they do. They are like drunk people who have been sick. They cannot walk in a straight line.
15Nobody in Egypt will be able to do anything. They may be Egypt's head or its tail, a palm branch or a reed. #19:15 See Isaiah 9:14. There is nothing that anyone can do.
16At that time, the Egyptians will be weak, like women. They will shake with fear because the Lord Almighty is ready to punish them. 17The people of Judah will frighten the Egyptians very much. If anyone says Judah's name, everyone who hears it will be afraid. They will be very afraid of the punishment that the Lord Almighty will bring to them.
18At that time, five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan. #19:18 ‘The language of Canaan’ here means the Israelites' language, Hebrew. The people in those cities will promise to obey the Lord Almighty. One of the cities will have the name ‘Sun City’.
19At that time, there will be an altar in the middle of Egypt's land, where people will worship the Lord. There will also be a tall stone for the Lord at Egypt's border. 20Those two things will be signs to tell everyone in Egypt about the Lord Almighty. Because of those signs, the Egyptians will remember that the Lord is powerful. When their enemies are cruel to them, they will call out to the Lord for help. Then he will send a strong saviour to rescue them. 21The Lord will cause the Egyptians to know him. They will agree to serve him. They will worship the Lord with sacrifices and offerings. They will make promises to the Lord, and they will do what they have promised to do. 22The Lord himself will punish the Egyptians. But after that, they will turn to the Lord. He will answer their prayers, and he will make them well again.
23At that time, there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria. People from Assyria will travel to Egypt and Egyptians will travel to Assyria. Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.
24At that time, Israel will join Egypt and Assyria as a third important nation. They will bring blessing to the whole world. 25The Lord Almighty will bless them all. He will say, ‘I will bless Egypt, who are now my people. I will bless Assyria, the people that I have made. And I will bless Israel, the people that I have chosen to belong to me.’
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Isaiah 19: EASY
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Isaiah 19
19
Egypt Will Be Punished
1 #
Jr 46.2-26; Ez 29.1—32.32. This is a message about Egypt:
The Lord comes to Egypt,
riding swiftly on a cloud.
The people are weak from fear.
Their idols tremble
as he approaches and says,
2“I will punish Egypt
with civil war—
neighbors, cities, and kingdoms
will fight each other.
3“Egypt will be discouraged
when I confuse their plans.
They will try to get advice
from their idols,
from the spirits of the dead,
and from fortunetellers.
4I will put the Egyptians
under the power of a cruel,
heartless king.
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
have promised this.”
Trouble along the Nile
5The Nile River will dry up
and become parched land.
6Its streams will stink,
Egypt will have no water,
and the reeds and tall grass
will dry up.
7Fields along the Nile
will be completely barren;
every plant will disappear.
8Those who fish in the Nile
will be discouraged
and mourn.
9None of the cloth makers#19.9 cloth makers: Cloth was made from several kinds of plants that grew in the fields along the Nile.
will know what to do,
and they will turn pale.#19.9 turn pale: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
10Weavers will be confused;
paid workers will cry and mourn.
Egypt's Helpless Leaders
11The king's officials in Zoan#19.11 Zoan: The city of Tanis in the Nile delta.
are foolish themselves
and give stupid advice.
How can they say to him,
“We are very wise,
and our families go back
to kings of long ago?”
12Where are those wise men now?
If they can, let them say
what the Lord All-Powerful
intends for Egypt.
13The royal officials in Zoan
and in Memphis
are foolish and deceived.
The leaders in every state
have given bad advice
to the nation.
14The Lord has confused Egypt;
its leaders have made it stagger
and vomit like a drunkard.
15No one in Egypt can do a thing,
no matter who they are.
16When the Lord All-Powerful punishes Egypt with his mighty arm, the Egyptians will become terribly weak and will tremble with fear. 17They will be so terrified of Judah that they will be frightened by the very mention of its name. This will happen because of what the Lord All-Powerful is planning against Egypt.
The Lord Will Bless Egypt, Assyria, and Israel
18The time is coming when Hebrew will be spoken in five Egyptian cities, and their people will become followers of the Lord. One of these cities will be called City of the Sun.#19.18 City of the Sun: Some manuscripts of the Standard Hebrew Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and one ancient translation; most manuscripts of the Standard Hebrew Text have “City of Destruction.” This probably refers to Heliopolis which means “City of the Sun” (see Jeremiah 43.13).
19In the heart of Egypt an altar will be set up for the Lord; at its border a shrine will be built to honor him. 20These will remind the Egyptians that the Lord All-Powerful is with them. And when they are in trouble and ask for help, he will send someone to rescue them from their enemies. 21The Lord will show the Egyptians who he is, and they will know and worship the Lord. They will bring him sacrifices and offerings, and they will keep their promises to him. 22After the Lord has punished Egypt, the people will turn to him. Then he will answer their prayers, and the Egyptians will be healed.
23At that time a good road will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Egyptians and the Assyrians will travel back and forth from Egypt to Assyria, and they will worship together. 24Israel will join with these two countries. They will be a blessing to everyone on earth, 25then the Lord All-Powerful will bless them by saying,
“The Egyptians are my people.
I created the Assyrians
and chose the Israelites.”
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