Isaiah 19-20

New King James Version

Proclamation Against Egypt

19 The ^(A)burden^[a] against Egypt.

Behold, the Lord ^(B)rides on a swift cloud,
And will come into Egypt;
^(C)The idols of Egypt will ^[b]totter at His presence,
And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.

²“I will ^(D)set Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
³The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst;
I will destroy their counsel,
And they will ^(E)consult the idols and the charmers,
The mediums and the sorcerers.
⁴And the Egyptians I will give
^(F)Into the hand of a cruel master,
And a fierce king will rule over them,”
Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

⁵^(G)The waters will fail from the sea,
And the river will be wasted and dried up.
⁶The rivers will turn foul;
The brooks ^(H)of defense will be emptied and dried up;
The reeds and rushes will wither.
⁷The papyrus reeds by ^[c]the River, by the mouth of the River,
And everything sown by the River,
Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.
⁸The fishermen also will mourn;
All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,
And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.
⁹Moreover those who work in ^(I)fine flax
And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;
¹⁰And its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.

¹¹Surely the princes of ^(J)Zoan are fools;
Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.
^(K)How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?”
¹²^(L)Where are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the Lord of hosts has ^(M)purposed against Egypt.
¹³The princes of Zoan have become fools;
^(N)The princes of ^[d]Noph are deceived;
They have also ^[e]deluded Egypt,
Those who are the ^[f]mainstay of its tribes.
¹⁴The Lord has mingled ^(O)a perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which ^(P)the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.

¹⁶In that day Egypt will ^(Q)be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, ^(R)which He waves over it. ¹⁷And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has ^(S)determined against it.

Egypt, Assyria, and Israel Blessed

¹⁸In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will ^(T)speak the language of Canaan and ^(U)swear by the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of ^[g]Destruction.

¹⁹In that day ^(V)there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the ^(W)Lord at its border. ²⁰And ^(X)it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a ^(Y)Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. ²¹Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will ^(Z)know the Lord in that day, and ^(AA)will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. ²²And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and ^(AB)heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.

²³In that day ^(AC)there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will ^(AD)serve with the Assyrians.

²⁴In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, ²⁵whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria ^(AE)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

The Sign Against Egypt and Ethiopia

20 In the year that ^(AF)Tartan^[h] came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, ²at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and remove ^(AG)the sackcloth from your ^[i]body, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, ^(AH)walking naked and barefoot.

³Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years ^(AI)for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, ⁴so shall the ^(AJ)king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, ^(AK)with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. ⁵^(AL)Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory. ⁶And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, ‘Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for ^(AM)help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’ ”

Footnotes

Isaiah 19:1 oracle, prophecy
Isaiah 19:1 Lit. shake
Isaiah 19:7 The Nile
Isaiah 19:13 Ancient Memphis
Isaiah 19:13 Lit. caused to stagger
Isaiah 19:13 cornerstone
Isaiah 19:18 Some Heb. mss., Arab., DSS, Tg., Vg. Sun; LXX Asedek, lit. Righteousness
Isaiah 20:1 Or the Commander in Chief
Isaiah 20:2 Lit. loins