Isaiah 19:1-13 ▼

1 An oracle against Egypt: Look, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. Egypt’s idols will tremble before Him, and Egypt’s heart will melt within it.

2 I will provoke Egypt against Egypt; each will fight against his brother and each against his friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it, and I will frustrate its plans. Then they will seek idols, ghosts, spirits of the dead, and spiritists.

4 I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh masters, and a strong king will rule it. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Hosts.

5 The waters of the sea will dry up, and the river will be parched and dry.

6 The channels will stink; they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched. Reed and rush will die.

7 The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the cultivated areas of the Nile will wither, blow away, and vanish.

8 Then the fishermen will mourn. All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the water will shrivel up.

9 Those who work with flax will be dismayed; the combers and weavers will turn pale.

10 Egypt’s weavers will be dejected; all her wage earners will be demoralized.

11 The princes of Zoan are complete fools; Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice! How can you say to Pharaoh,” I am one of the wise, a student of eastern kings|?

12 Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan have been fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.