Isaiah 19

1The oracle concerning Egypt: Behold, Yahweh rides a swift cloud and enters Egypt; Egypt's idols quake before him, and Egypt's heart melts within it.

2I will stir Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, man against his brother, man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3The spirit of Egypt will utterly fail within it, and I will devour its counsel; they will consult the worthless idols, the enchanters, the mediums, and the diviners.

4I will deliver the Egyptians into a harsh lord's hand, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord Yahweh of hosts.

5And the waters will dry up from the sea, and the river will waste away and become dry.

6The rivers will be cast far away, the brooks of defense will be emptied and laid waste, and the reeds and rushes will wither.

7The papyrus beside the Nile, beside the mouth of the Nile, and everything sown along the Nile will dry up, be driven away, and be no more.

8The fishermen will lament and mourn, all who cast hooks into the river, and those who spread nets upon the surface of the waters will languish.

9Workers of fine flax and weavers of networks will be confounded.

10Her foundations—all who labor for wages at the fishponds—will be crushed.

11Surely Zoan's rulers are fools; Pharaoh's wise counselors offer senseless advice. How do you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings"?

12Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and know what Yahweh of Hosts has planned concerning Egypt.

13The princes of Zoan have grown foolish, the princes of Noph have been beguiled; the pillars of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

14Yahweh has mingled a spirit of perverseness within her, and they have misled Egypt in all its works, like a drunkard reels in his vomit.

15There will be no work for Egypt that head or tail, branch or rush, will do.

16In that day Egypt will be like women, trembling and fearing before the waving of the hand of Yahweh of hosts, which he brandishes over it.

17The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt, everyone to whom it is mentioned being afraid because of the counsel of Yahweh of hosts, which he devises against it.

18In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear to Yahweh of hosts; one will be called the city of destruction.

19On that day an altar to Yahweh will stand in the midst of Egypt's land, and a pillar to Yahweh beside its border.

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

21Yahweh will become known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day; they will serve with sacrifice and offering, vow a vow to Yahweh, and fulfill it.

22Yahweh will strike Egypt—he will strike and heal it—and they will return to Yahweh, and he will hear their prayers and heal them.

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

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

25whom Yahweh of hosts blesses, saying, "Blessed is Egypt, my people, Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance."