Isaiah 19

• 1. This message came to me concerning Egypt: Look! The LORD is advancing against Egypt, riding on a swift cloud. The idols of Egypt tremble. The hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.
• 2. "I will make the Egyptians fight against each other--brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, province against province.
• 3. The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will confuse their plans. They will plead with their idols for wisdom. They will call on spirits, mediums, and psychics to show them which way to turn.
• 4. I will hand Egypt over to a hard, cruel master, to a fierce king," says the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
• 5. The waters of the Nile will fail to rise and flood the fields. The riverbed will be parched and dry.
• 6. The canals of the Nile will dry up, and the streams of Egypt will become foul with rotting reeds and rushes.
• 7. All the greenery along the riverbank will wither and blow away. All the crops will dry up, and everything will die.
• 8. The fishermen will weep for lack of work. Those who fish with hooks and those who use nets will all be unemployed.
• 9. The weavers will have no flax or cotton, for the crops will fail.
• 10. The weavers and all the workers will be sick at heart.
• 11. What fools are the counselors of Zoan! Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is stupid and wrong. Will they still boast of their wisdom? Will they dare tell Pharaoh about their long line of wise ancestors?
• 12. What has happened to your wise counselors, Pharaoh? If they are so wise, let them tell you what the LORD Almighty is going to do to Egypt.
• 13. The wise men from Zoan are fools, and those from Memphis are deluded. The leaders of Egypt have ruined the land with their foolish counsel.
• 14. The LORD has sent a spirit of foolishness on them, so all their suggestions are wrong. They cause the land of Egypt to stagger like a sick drunkard.
• 15. Nobody in Egypt, whether rich or poor, important or unknown, can offer any help.
• 16. In that day the Egyptians will be as weak as women. They will cower in fear beneath the upraised fist of the LORD Almighty.
• 17. Just to speak the name of Israel will strike deep terror in their hearts, for the LORD Almighty has laid out his plans against them.
• 18. In that day five of Egypt's cities will follow the LORD Almighty. They will even begin to speak the Hebrew language. One of these will be Heliopolis, the City of the Sun.
• 19. In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and there will be a monument to the LORD at its border.
• 20. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When the people cry to the LORD for help against those who oppress them, he will send them a savior who will rescue them.
• 21. In that day the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians. Yes, they will know the LORD and will give their sacrifices and offerings to him. They will make promises to the LORD and keep them.
• 22. The LORD will strike Egypt in a way that will bring healing. For the Egyptians will turn to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas and heal them.
• 23. In that day Egypt and Assyria will be connected by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will move freely between their lands, and they will worship the same God.
• 24. And Israel will be their ally. The three will be together, and Israel will be a blessing to them.
• 25. For the LORD Almighty will say, "Blessed be Egypt, my people. Blessed be Assyria, the land I have made. Blessed be Israel, my special possession!"

Isaiah 20

• 1. In the year when King Sargon of Assyria captured the Philistine city of Ashdod,
• 2. the LORD told Isaiah son of Amoz, "Take off all your clothes, including your sandals." Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.
• 3. Then the LORD said, "My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign--a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.
• 4. For the king of Assyria will take away the Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners. He will make them walk naked and barefoot, both young and old, their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
• 5. How dismayed will be the Philistines, who counted on the power of Ethiopia and boasted of their allies in Egypt!
• 6. They will say, `If this can happen to Egypt, what chance do we have? For we counted on Egypt to protect us from the king of Assyria.'"

Isaiah 21

• 1. This message came to me concerning the land of Babylonia: Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert, like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev.
• 2. I see an awesome vision: I see you plundered and destroyed. Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes, take part in the siege. Babylon will fall, and the groaning of all the nations she enslaved will end.
• 3. My stomach aches and burns with pain. Sharp pangs of horror are upon me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth. I grow faint when I hear what God is planning; I am blinded with dismay.
• 4. My mind reels; my heart races. The sleep I once enjoyed at night is now a faint memory. I lie awake, trembling.
• 5. Look! They are preparing a great feast. They are spreading rugs for people to sit on. Everyone is eating and drinking. Quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle! You are being attacked!
• 6. Meanwhile, the Lord said to me, "Put a watchman on the city wall to shout out what he sees.
• 7. Tell him to sound the alert when he sees chariots drawn by horses and warriors mounted on donkeys and camels."
• 8. Then the watchman called out, "Day after day I have stood on the watchtower, my lord. Night after night I have remained at my post.
• 9. Now at last--look! Here come the chariots and warriors!" Then the watchman said, "Babylon is fallen! All the idols of Babylon lie broken on the ground!"
• 10. O my people, threshed and winnowed, I have told you everything the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, has said.
• 11. This message came to me concerning Edom: Someone from Edom keeps calling to me, "Watchman, how much longer until morning? When will the night be over?"
• 12. The watchman replies, "Morning is coming, but night will soon follow. If you wish to ask again, then come back and ask."
• 13. This message came to me concerning Arabia: O caravans from Dedan, hide in the deserts of Arabia.
• 14. O people of Tema, bring food and water to these weary refugees.
• 15. They have fled from drawn swords and sharp arrows and the terrors of war.
• 16. "But within a year," says the Lord, "all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
• 17. Only a few of its courageous archers will survive. I, the LORD, the God of Israel, have spoken!"

New Living Translation: 243 of 324 days.