Isaiah 19:1-15

New American Standard Bible

Message to Egypt

19 The ^(A)pronouncement concerning ^(B)Egypt:

Behold, the Lord is ^(C)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The ^(D)idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the ^(E)heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
²“So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will fight, ^(F)each against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
³Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confuse their strategy,
So that ^(G)they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead,
And to ^[a]mediums and spiritists.
⁴Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a ^(H)cruel master,
And a ^[b]mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord ^[c]God of armies.

⁵^(I)The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
⁶The ^[d]^(J)canals will emit a stench,
The ^[e]^(K)streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
^(L)The reeds and rushes will rot away.
⁷The bulrushes by the ^(M)Nile, by the ^[f]edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
⁸And the ^(N)fishermen will grieve,
And all those who cast a ^[g]line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will dwindle away.
⁹Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white ^(O)cloth will be ^[h]utterly dejected.
¹⁰And ^[i]the ^(P)pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

¹¹The officials of ^[j]^(Q)Zoan are mere fools;
The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become ^[k]stupid.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the ^(R)wise, a son of ancient kings”?
¹²Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them ^[l]understand what the Lord of armies
Has ^(S)planned against Egypt.
¹³The officials of ^[m]Zoan have turned out to be fools,
The officials of ^(T)Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the ^(U)cornerstone of her tribes
Have ^[n]led Egypt astray.
¹⁴The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of ^(V)distortion;
^(W)They have led Egypt astray in all ^[o]that it does,
As a ^(X)drunken person ^[p]staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵There will be no work for Egypt
^(Y)Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.