Message to Egypt

1The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([a]a burden to be carried) concerning Egypt:

Listen carefully, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;

The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,

And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2“So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;

And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor,

City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3“Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within them and emptied out;

And I will confuse their strategy,

So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,

And mediums and soothsayers.

4“And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hard and cruel master,

And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

5The waters from the sea will dry up,

And the river will be parched and dry.

6The canals will become foul-smelling,

The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up,

The reeds and the rushes will rot away.

7The meadows by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile,

And all the sown fields of the Nile

Will become dry, be blown away, and be no more.

8The fishermen will lament (cry out in grief),

And all those who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn,

And those who spread nets upon the waters will languish.

9Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax

And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed.

10[Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed;

And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.

11The princes of [b]Zoan are complete fools;

The counsel of the Pharaoh’s wisest advisors has become stupid.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?”

12Where then are your wise men?

Please let them tell you,

And let them understand what the LORD of hosts

Has purposed against Egypt [if they can].

13The princes of Zoan have acted like fools,

The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope];

Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes

Have led Egypt astray.

14The LORD has mixed a spirit of distortion within her;

Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does,

As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15There will be no work for Egypt

Which head or tail, [high] palm branch or [low] bulrush, may do.

16In that day the Egyptians will become like [helpless] women, and they will tremble and be frightened because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. 17The land of Judah [Assyria’s ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is planning against Egypt.

18In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One [of them] will be called the City of [c]Destruction.

19In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the LORD near its border. 20It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them. 21And so the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the LORD and fulfill it. 22The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing it; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and heal them.

23In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship and serve [the LORD] with the Assyrians.

24In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage.”