1 An oracle concerning Egypt: |
2 "I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian-
brother will fight against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
kingdom against kingdom. |
3 The Egyptians will lose heart,
and I will bring their plans to nothing;
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
the mediums and the spiritists. |
4 I will hand the Egyptians over
to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,"
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. |
5 The waters of the river will dry up,
and the riverbed will be parched and dry. |
6 The canals will stink;
the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.
The reeds and rushes will wither, |
7 also the plants along the Nile,
at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field along the Nile
will become parched, will blow away and be no more. |
8 The fishermen will groan and lament,
all who cast hooks into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
will pine away. |
9 Those who work with combed flax will despair,
the weavers of fine linen 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 are nothing but fools;
the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
"I am one of the wise men,
a disciple of the ancient kings"? |
12 Where are your wise men now?
Let them show you and make known
what the LORD Almighty
has planned against Egypt. |
13 The officials of Zoan have become fools,
the leaders of Memphis1 19:13 Hebrew Noph are deceived;
the cornerstones of her peoples
have led Egypt astray. |
14 The LORD has poured into them
a spirit of dizziness;
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit. |
15 There is nothing Egypt can do-
head or tail, palm branch or reed. |
16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand 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, because of what the LORD Almighty is planning against them. |
18 In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD Almighty. One of them will be called the City of Destruction.2 19:18 Most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text; some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and Vulgate City of the Sun (that is, Heliopolis) |
19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. |
20 It will be a sign and witness 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 and defender, and he will rescue them. |
21 So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD . They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. |
22 The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD , and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. |
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. |
24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. |
25 The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." |
