Isaiah 19
International Children’s Bible
God’s Message to Egypt
19 The message about Egypt:
Look, the Lord is coming on a fast cloud.
He will enter Egypt.
And the idols of Egypt will tremble before him.
Egypt’s courage will melt away.
2 The Lord says, “I will cause the Egyptians to fight against themselves.
Men will fight with their brothers.
Neighbors will fight neighbors.
Cities will fight cities.
Kingdoms will fight kingdoms.
3 The Egyptians will be afraid.
I will ruin their plans.
They will ask their idols and spirits of the dead what they should do.
They will ask their mediums and fortune-tellers.”
4 The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, says,
“I will give Egypt to a hard master.
A powerful king will rule over them.”
5 The sea will become dry.
The water will disappear from the Nile River.
6 The canals will stink.
The streams of Egypt will decrease and dry up.
All the water plants will rot.
7 All the plants along the banks of the Nile will die.
Even the planted fields by the Nile
will dry up, blow away and disappear.
8 The fishermen, all those who catch fish from the Nile,
will groan and cry.
Those who depend on the Nile for food will be sad.
9 All the people who make cloth from flax will be sad.
Those who weave linen will lose hope.
10 Those who weave cloth will be broken.
All those who work for money will be sad.
11 The officers of the city of Zoan are fools.
The wise men who advise the king of Egypt give wrong advice.
How can they say to him they are wise?
How can they say they are from the old family of the kings?
12 Egypt, where are your wise men?
Let them show you
what the Lord of heaven’s armies has planned for Egypt.
13 The officers of Zoan have been fooled.
The leaders of Memphis have believed false things.
So the leaders of Egypt
lead her the wrong way.
14 The Lord has made the leaders confused.
They wander and lead Egypt in the wrong ways.
They are like drunk people stumbling in their own vomit.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do.
No one in Egypt can help.
16 In that day the people of Egypt will be like frightened women. They will be afraid of the Lord of heaven’s armies. He will raise his hand to strike them down. 17 The land of Judah will bring fear to the people in Egypt. Anyone in Egypt who hears the name Judah will be afraid. This will happen because the Lord of heaven’s armies has planned terrible things for Egypt. 18 At that time five cities in Egypt will speak Hebrew, the language of Canaan. They will promise to be loyal to the Lord of heaven’s armies. One of these cities will be named the City of Destruction. 19 At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of Egypt. At the border of Egypt there will be a monument to the Lord. 20 This will be a sign. It will show that the Lord of heaven’s armies is powerful. When the people cry to the Lord for help, he will send help. He will send someone to save and defend the people. He will rescue them from those who hurt them.
21 So the Lord will show himself to the Egyptians. Then they will say he is the Lord. They will serve God and offer many sacrifices. They will make promises to the Lord, and they will keep them. 22 The Lord will punish the Egyptians. Then he will heal them. They will come back to the Lord. He will listen to their prayers and heal them.
23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. Then people from Assyria will go to Egypt. And the Egyptians will go to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship God together. 24 At that time Israel, Assyria and Egypt will join together. This will be a blessing for the earth. 25 The Lord of heaven’s armies will bless them. He will say, “Egypt, you are my people. Assyria, I made you. Israel, I own you. You are all blessed!”
Isaiah 19
English Standard Version
An Oracle Concerning Egypt
19 An (A)oracle concerning (B)Egypt.
Behold, the Lord (C)is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and (D)the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will (E)melt within them.
2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
(F)and they will fight, each against another
and each against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
3 and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound[a] their (G)counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and (H)the mediums and the necromancers;
4 and I will give over the Egyptians
into the hand of (I)a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
declares the Lord God of hosts.
5 And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will be dry and parched,
6 and its canals will become foul,
and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up,
reeds and rushes will rot away.
7 There will be bare places by the Nile,
on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
will be driven away, and will be no more.
8 The (J)fishermen will mourn and lament,
all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
who spread nets on the water.
9 The workers in (K)combed flax will be in despair,
and the weavers of white cotton.
10 Those who are the (L)pillars of the land will be crushed,
and all who (M)work for pay will be grieved.
11 The princes of (N)Zoan are utterly foolish;
the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise,
a son of ancient kings”?
12 Where then are your (O)wise men?
Let them tell you
that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of (P)Zoan have become fools,
and the princes of (Q)Memphis are deluded;
those who are the (R)cornerstones of her tribes
have made Egypt stagger.
14 The Lord has mingled within her (S)a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
(T)as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt
that (U)head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.
Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed
16 In that day the Egyptians will be (V)like women, and (W)tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.
18 (X)In that day there will be (Y)five cities in the land of Egypt that (Z)speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.[b]
19 In that day there will be an (AA)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a (AB)pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 (AC)It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, (AD)he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 (AE)And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day (AF)and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. 22 (AG)And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
23 (AH)In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, (AI)and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, (AJ)a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt (AK)my people, and Assyria (AL)the work of my hands, and (AM)Israel my inheritance.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 19:3 Or I will swallow up
- Isaiah 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
