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Isaiah 17-19
Easy-to-Read Version

God’s Message to Aram

17 This is a message[a] about Damascus[b]:

“Damascus is now a city, but it will be destroyed.
    Only ruined buildings will be left there.
2 People will leave the cities of Aroer.[c]
    Flocks of sheep will wander freely in those empty towns;
    there will be no one to bother them.
3 The fort cities of Ephraim will be destroyed.
    The government in Damascus will be finished.
Those left in Aram will lose everything,
    just like the people of Israel,” says the Lord All-Powerful.

4 “At that time Jacob’s wealth will all be gone.
    Yes, Israel will be like a sick man who has become weak and thin.

5 “That time will be like the grain harvest in Rephaim Valley.[d] The workers gather the plants that grow in the field. Then they cut the heads of grain from the plants and collect the grain.

6 “That time will also be like the olive harvest. People knock olives from the trees, but a few olives are usually left at the top of each tree. Four or five olives are left on some of the top branches. It will be the same for those cities,” says the Lord All-Powerful.

7 Then the people will look up to the one who made them. Their eyes will see the Holy One of Israel. 8 They will not trust the great things they have made. They will not go to the special gardens[e] and altars[f] they made for false gods. 9 At that time all the walled cities will be empty. They will be like the mountains and the forests[g] in the land before the Israelites came. In the past, all the people ran away because the Israelites were coming. In the future, the country will be empty again. 10 This will happen because you have forgotten the God who saves you. You have not remembered that God is your place of safety.

You brought some very good grapevines from faraway places. You might plant those grapevines, but they will not grow. 11 You will plant your grapevines one day and try to make them grow, and the next day they will blossom. But at harvest time, you will go to gather the fruit from the plants, and you will see that everything is dead. A sickness will kill all the plants.

12 Listen to all these people!
    Their loud crying sounds like the noise from the sea.
    Listen, it is like the crashing of waves in the sea.
13 And like the waves,
    they will rush away when God speaks harshly to them.
They will be like chaff blown away by the wind.
    They will be like weeds chased by a storm.
14 That night, the people will be frightened.
    By morning, nothing will be left.
So our enemies will get nothing.
    They will come to our land, but nothing will be there.

God’s Message to Ethiopia

18 Look at the land along the rivers of Ethiopia where you can hear the buzzing of insect wings. 2 That land sends people down the Nile River in reed boats.[h]

Fast messengers, go to the people
    who are tall and smooth,
    who are feared far and wide.
Go to that powerful nation that defeats other countries
    and whose land is divided by rivers.
    Go warn them!
3 Like a flag on a hill,
    everyone on earth will see what happens.
Like a trumpet call,
    everyone in the country will hear it.

4 The Lord said, “I will be in the place prepared for me.[i] I will quietly watch these things happen: On a beautiful summer day, at noon, people will be resting. (It will be during the hot harvest time when there is no rain, but only early morning dew.) 5 Then something terrible will happen. Earlier in the year, the flowers bloomed and the new grapes formed buds and began to grow. But before the crop is harvested, the enemy will come and cut the plants. They will break the vines and throw them away. 6 The vines will be left for the birds from the mountains and the wild animals to eat. The birds will feed on them throughout the summer, and that winter the wild animals will eat the vines.”

7 At that time a special offering will be brought to the Lord All-Powerful from the people who are tall and smooth, from those who are feared far and wide, from that powerful nation that defeats other countries and whose land is divided by rivers.[j] This offering will be brought to the Lord’s place on Mount Zion.

God’s Message to Egypt

19 A message[k] about Egypt: Look, the Lord is coming on a fast cloud. He will enter Egypt, and all the false gods of Egypt will shake with fear. Egypt’s courage will melt away like hot wax.

2 The Lord says, “I will cause the Egyptians to fight against themselves. Men will fight their brothers. Neighbors will be against neighbors. Cities will be against cities. Kingdoms will be against kingdoms.[l] 3 The Egyptians will be afraid and confused. They will ask their false gods and wise men what they should do. They will ask their wizards and magicians, but I will ruin their plans.” 4 The Lord God All-Powerful says, “I will give Egypt to a hard master. A powerful king will rule over the people.”

5 The water in the Nile River will dry up and disappear. 6 All the rivers will smell very bad.[m] The canals in Egypt will be dry, and the water will be gone. All the water plants will rot. 7 All the plants along the riverbanks will die and blow away. Even the plants at the widest part of the river will dry up, blow away, and disappear.

8 The fishermen, all those who catch fish from the Nile River, will become sad and they will cry. They depend on the Nile River for their food, but it will be dry. 9 Those who make cloth from flax, who weave it into linen, will all be sad. 10 Those who weave cloth will be broken, and those who work for money will be depressed.

11 The leaders of the city of Zoan[n] are fools. Pharaoh’s “wise advisors” give bad advice. They say they are wise. They say they are from the old family of the kings, but they are not as smart as they think. 12 Egypt, where are your wise men? They should learn what the Lord All-Powerful has planned for Egypt. They should be the ones to tell you what will happen.

13 The leaders of Zoan have been fooled. The leaders of Noph[o] have believed lies, so they lead Egypt the wrong way. 14 The Lord confused them, so they wander around and lead Egypt the wrong way. Everything they do is wrong. They are like drunks rolling in their vomit. 15 There is nothing the leaders can do. (They are “the heads and the tails.” They are “the tops and the stalks of plants.”[p])

16 At that time the Egyptians will be like frightened women. They will be afraid of the Lord All-Powerful, because he will raise his arm to punish the people. 17 The land of Judah brings fear to everyone in Egypt. Anyone in Egypt who hears the name Judah will be afraid. This will happen because the Lord All-Powerful has planned terrible things to happen to Egypt. 18 At that time there will be five cities in Egypt where people speak Hebrew.[q] One of these cities will be named “Destruction City.”[r] The people in these cities will promise to follow the Lord All-Powerful.

19 At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of Egypt. At the border of Egypt there will be a monument to show honor to the Lord. 20 This will be a sign to show that the Lord All-Powerful does amazing things. Any time the people cry for help from the Lord, he will send help. He will send someone to save and defend the people—to rescue the people from those who hurt them.

21 At that time the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and they really will know the Lord. They will serve him and give him many sacrifices. They will make promises[s] to the Lord, and they will do what they promise. 22 The Lord will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them, and they will come back to him. The Lord will listen to their prayers and heal them.

23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. Then the Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians will go to Assyria. Egypt will work with Assyria.[t] 24 Then Israel, Assyria, and Egypt will join together and control the land. This will be a blessing for the land. 25 The Lord All-Powerful will bless these countries. He will say, “Egypt, you are my people. Assyria, I made you. Israel, I own you. You are all blessed!”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:1 message Or “burden.”
  2. Isaiah 17:1 Damascus A city in the country of Aram (Syria).
  3. Isaiah 17:2 Aroer A place in the country of Aram (Syria).
  4. Isaiah 17:5 Rephaim Valley A valley southwest of Jerusalem.
  5. Isaiah 17:8 special gardens Gardens where people worshiped false gods.
  6. Isaiah 17:8 altars These might be altars for burning incense, or they might be altars for worshiping a special false god.
  7. Isaiah 17:9 mountains and the forests With a minor change in the Hebrew, this could be “the Horites and Amorites.”
  8. Isaiah 18:2 reed boats These boats were made by tying many reeds (a type of water plant) together.
  9. Isaiah 18:4 the place prepared for me Probably the Temple in Jerusalem.
  10. Isaiah 18:7 Or “At that time the people who are tall and smooth, who are feared far and wide, that powerful nation who defeats other countries and whose land is divided by rivers, those people will be brought to the Lord All-Powerful as a special gift.”
  11. Isaiah 19:1 message Or “burden.”
  12. Isaiah 19:2 Kingdoms will be against kingdoms Or “States will be against states.” This means Egyptians will fight other Egyptians.
  13. Isaiah 19:6 smell very bad In Hebrew this is like a name for the Nile River.
  14. Isaiah 19:11 Zoan A city in Egypt. Also in verse 13.
  15. Isaiah 19:13 Noph Or “Memphis,” a city in Egypt.
  16. Isaiah 19:15 the heads and … stalks of plants See Isa. 9:14-15.
  17. Isaiah 19:18 Hebrew Literally, “the language of Canaan.”
  18. Isaiah 19:18 Destruction City This is a wordplay on the name meaning “Sun City,” which is also called On or Heliopolis.
  19. Isaiah 19:21 promises A special kind of promise to God. See Lev. 22:18-24.
  20. Isaiah 19:23 Egypt will work with Assyria Or “Egypt will serve Assyria.”
Listen to Isaiah 17-19
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Isaiah 17-19
New International Version

A Prophecy Against Damascus

17 A prophecy(A) against Damascus:(B)

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
    but will become a heap of ruins.(C)
2 The cities of Aroer(D) will be deserted
    and left to flocks,(E) which will lie down,(F)
    with no one to make them afraid.(G)
3 The fortified(H) city will disappear from Ephraim,
    and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
    like the glory(I) of the Israelites,”(J)
declares the Lord Almighty.

4 “In that day(K) the glory(L) of Jacob will fade;
    the fat of his body will waste(M) away.
5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
    gathering(N) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain(O)
    in the Valley of Rephaim.(P)
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,(Q)
    as when an olive tree is beaten,(R)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
    four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

7 In that day(S) people will look(T) to their Maker(U)
    and turn their eyes to the Holy One(V) of Israel.
8 They will not look to the altars,(W)
    the work of their hands,(X)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[a](Y)
    and the incense altars their fingers(Z) have made.

9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.(AA) And all will be desolation.

10 You have forgotten(AB) God your Savior;(AC)
    you have not remembered the Rock,(AD) your fortress.(AE)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
    and plant imported vines,(AF)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
    and on the morning(AG) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest(AH) will be as nothing(AI)
    in the day of disease and incurable(AJ) pain.(AK)

12 Woe to the many nations that rage(AL)—
    they rage like the raging sea!(AM)
Woe to the peoples who roar(AN)—
    they roar like the roaring of great waters!(AO)
13 Although the peoples roar(AP) like the roar of surging waters,
    when he rebukes(AQ) them they flee(AR) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff(AS) on the hills,
    like tumbleweed before a gale.(AT)
14 In the evening, sudden(AU) terror!(AV)
    Before the morning, they are gone!(AW)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    the lot of those who plunder us.

A Prophecy Against Cush

18 Woe(AX) to the land of whirring wings[b]
    along the rivers of Cush,[c](AY)
2 which sends envoys(AZ) by sea
    in papyrus(BA) boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,(BB)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive(BC) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.(BD)

3 All you people of the world,(BE)
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner(BF) is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet(BG) sounds,
    you will hear it.
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet(BH) and will look on from my dwelling place,(BI)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,(BJ)
    like a cloud of dew(BK) in the heat of harvest.”
5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off(BL) the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.(BM)
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey(BN)
    and to the wild animals;(BO)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

7 At that time gifts(BP) will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,(BQ)
    from a people feared(BR) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers(BS)—

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.(BT)

A Prophecy Against Egypt

19 A prophecy(BU) against Egypt:(BV)

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud(BW)
    and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    and the hearts of the Egyptians melt(BX) with fear.

2 “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—
    brother will fight against brother,(BY)
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city,
    kingdom against kingdom.(BZ)
3 The Egyptians will lose heart,(CA)
    and I will bring their plans(CB) to nothing;(CC)
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
    the mediums and the spiritists.(CD)
4 I will hand the Egyptians over
    to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king(CE) will rule over them,”
    declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

5 The waters of the river will dry up,(CF)
    and the riverbed will be parched and dry.(CG)
6 The canals will stink;(CH)
    the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.(CI)
The reeds(CJ) and rushes will wither,(CK)
7     also the plants(CL) along the Nile,
    at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field(CM) along the Nile
    will become parched, will blow away and be no more.(CN)
8 The fishermen(CO) will groan and lament,
    all who cast hooks(CP) into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
    will pine away.
9 Those who work with combed flax(CQ) will despair,
    the weavers of fine linen(CR) will lose hope.
10 The workers in cloth will be dejected,
    and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

11 The officials of Zoan(CS) are nothing but fools;
    the wise counselors(CT) of Pharaoh give senseless advice.(CU)
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am one of the wise men,(CV)
    a disciple of the ancient kings”?

12 Where are your wise men(CW) now?
    Let them show you and make known
what the Lord Almighty
    has planned(CX) against Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan(CY) have become fools,
    the leaders of Memphis(CZ) are deceived;
the cornerstones(DA) of her peoples
    have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has poured into them
    a spirit of dizziness;(DB)
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
    as a drunkard staggers(DC) around in his vomit.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do—
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.(DD)

16 In that day(DE) the Egyptians will become weaklings.(DF) They will shudder with fear(DG) at the uplifted hand(DH) that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified,(DI) because of what the Lord Almighty is planning(DJ) against them.

18 In that day(DK) five cities(DL) in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance(DM) to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.[d](DN)

19 In that day(DO) there will be an altar(DP) to the Lord in the heart of Egypt,(DQ) and a monument(DR) to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness(DS) to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior(DT) and defender, and he will rescue(DU) them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge(DV) the Lord. They will worship(DW) with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them.(DX) 22 The Lord will strike(DY) Egypt with a plague;(DZ) he will strike them and heal them. They will turn(EA) to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal(EB) them.

23 In that day(EC) there will be a highway(ED) from Egypt to Assyria.(EE) The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship(EF) together. 24 In that day(EG) Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria,(EH) a blessing[e](EI) on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless(EJ) them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people,(EK) Assyria my handiwork,(EL) and Israel my inheritance.(EM)”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
  2. Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts
  3. Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region
  4. Isaiah 19:18 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls, Symmachus and Vulgate; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text City of Destruction
  5. Isaiah 19:24 Or Assyria, whose names will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or Assyria, who will be seen by others as blessed
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