Isaiah 19

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• 1. An oracle concerning Egypt: See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
• 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 Memphis 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.
• 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."

New International Version