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Chapter 19
A Prophecy About Egypt
1An 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. 3The 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. 4I 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. 5The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry. 6The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither, 7also 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. 8The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away. 9Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope. 10The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart. 11The 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”? 12Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the LORD Almighty has planned against Egypt. 13The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of MemphisHebrew Noph are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray. 14The 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. 15There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or reed. 16In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them. 17And 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. 18In 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.Most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text; some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and Vulgate City of the Sun (that is, Heliopolis) 19In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. 20It 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. 21So 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. 22The 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. 23In 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. 24In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. 25The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” Chapter 20
A Prophecy Against Egypt and Cush
1In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it—2at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot. 3Then the LORD said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush,That is, the upper Nile region; also in verse 5 4so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt's shame. 5Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame. 6In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’” Chapter 21
A Prophecy Against Babylon
1An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea:Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. 2A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused. 3At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. 4My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me. 5They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields! 6This is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. 7When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert.” 8And the lookoutDead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text A lion shouted, “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post. 9Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: ‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!’” 10O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD Almighty, from the God of Israel. A Prophecy Against Edom
11An oracle concerning DumahDumah means silence or stillness, a wordplay on Edom.:Someone calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” 12The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; and come back yet again.” A Prophecy Against Arabia
13An oracle concerning Arabia:You caravans of Dedanites, who camp in the thickets of Arabia, 14bring water for the thirsty; you who live in Tema, bring food for the fugitives. 15They flee from the sword, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow and from the heat of battle. 16This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the pomp of Kedar will come to an end. 17The survivors of the bowmen, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.
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