Isaiah

19 The oracle on Egypt: Lo! Yahweh riding upon a swift cloud and he will enter Egypt, And the idols of Egypt shall shake at his presence, And the heart of Egypt shall melt within him;

2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, And they shall fight—Every one against his brother and Every one against his neighbour,—City against city, and Kingdom against kingdom.

3 And the spirit of Egypt shall vanish within them, Yea the sagacity thereof will I swallow up,—And they will seek Unto the idols and Unto them that mutter, and Unto them that have familiar spirits and Unto the wizards;

4 And I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord,—And a fierce king shall rule over them, Declareth the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

5 And the waters shall be dried up from the great stream,—And the River shall waste and be dry;

6 And rivers shall stink, The canals of Egypt be shallow and waste, Reed and rush be withered;

7 The meadows by the Nile by the mouth of the Nile And all that is sown in the Nile, Shall be dry, driven away, and not be!

8 Then shall the fishers lament, And all shall mourn who cast in the Nile a hook,—And they who spread nets on the face of the waters shall languish;

9 Then shall turn pale The workers in combed flax,—and The weavers of white linen;

10 Then shall her pillars be crushed,—All who make wages be bowed down in soul.

11 Surely foolish are the princes of Zoan, The wisest counsellors of Pharaoh in counsel are brutish,—How can ye say unto Pharaoh, Son of the wise am I, Son of the kings of olden time?

12 Where then are thy wise men? Pray let them tell thee! And let them know what Yahweh of hosts hath purposed on Egypt!

13 Doting are the princes of Zoan, Deceived are the princes of Nôph: They who are the corner-stone of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

14 Yahweh hath infused in her midst a spirit of perverseness,—And they have led Egypt astray into all his own doings, As a drunken man staggereth into his own vomit;

15 And Egypt shall have nothing which can be done, Which head or tail, palm-top or rush, can do!

16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women,—And shall start and tremble because of the brandishing of the hand of Yahweh of hosts, which he is about to brandish over it.

17 Then shall the soil of Judah become to Egypt a terror; Every one to whom it is mentioned will tremble,—Because of the purpose of Yahweh of hosts, which he is purposing against it.

18 In that day shall there be five cities in the land of Egypt Speaking the language of Canaan, And swearing unto Yahweh of hosts,—The city of destruction shall be the name of one!

19 In that day shall there be An altar unto Yahweh, in the midst of the land of Egypt,—And a pillar near the boundary thereof unto Yahweh;

20 And it shall become a sign and a witness unto Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt,—For they will make outcry unto Yahweh because of oppressors, That he would send them a saviour—and a great one, Then will he deliver them.

21 Then will Yahweh make himself known to the Egyptians, So shall the Egyptians know Yahweh in that day,—And they will offer a sacrifice and a present, And will vow a vow unto Yahweh and will perform.

22 And Yahweh will plague Egypt, plague and heal,—And they will turn unto Yahweh, And he will be entreated of them and will heal them.

23 In that day shall there be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, And the Assyrians shall come into Egypt And the Egyptians into Assyria; And the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

24 In that day shall Israel be a third with Egypt and with Assyria,—A blessing in the midst of the earth:

25 Whom Yahweh of hosts hath blessed saying,—Blessed be My people—the Egyptians And the work of my hands—the Assyrians, And mine own inheritance—Israel.