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ISAIAH 19
page 619
A fierce king will rule them,”
says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s
Armies.
for their conquests and destruction,
and whose land is divided by rivers.
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All you people of the world,
everyone who lives on the earth—
when I raise my battle flag on the mountain,
look!
When I blow the ram’s horn, listen!
For the Lord has told me this:
“I will watch quietly from my dwelling
place—
as quietly as the heat rises on a summer
day,
or as the morning dew forms during the
harvest.”
Even before you begin your attack,
while your plans are ripening like grapes,
the Lord will cut off your new growth with
pruning shears.
He will snip off and discard your
spreading branches.
Your mighty army will be left dead in
the fields
for the mountain vultures and wild
animals.
The vultures will tear at the corpses all
summer.
The wild animals will gnaw at the
bones all winter.
At that time the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will receive gifts
from this land divided by rivers,
from this tall, smooth-skinned people,
who are feared far and wide for their
conquests and destruction.
They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem,*
where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
dwells.
A Message about Egypt
This message came to me concerning
Egypt:
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Look! The Lord is advancing against Egypt,
riding on a swift cloud.
The idols of Egypt tremble.
The hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.
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“I will make Egyptian fight against Egyptian—
brother against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
province against province.
The Egyptians will lose heart,
and I will confuse their plans.
They will plead with their idols for wisdom
and call on spirits, mediums, and those
who consult the spirits of the dead.
I will hand Egypt over
to a hard, cruel master.
18:7 Hebrew to Mount Zion. 19:13 Hebrew Noph. 19:18 Or
will be the City of Destruction.
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The waters of the Nile will fail to rise and
flood the fields.
The riverbed will be parched and dry.
The canals of the Nile will dry up,
and the streams of Egypt will stink
with rotting reeds and rushes.
All the greenery along the riverbank
and all the crops along the river
will dry up and blow away.
The fishermen will lament for lack of work.
Those who cast hooks into the Nile will
groan,
and those who use nets will lose heart.
There will be no flax for the harvesters,
no thread for the weavers.
They will be in despair,
and all the workers will be sick at heart.
What fools are the officials of Zoan!
Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is
stupid and wrong.
Will they still boast to Pharaoh of their
wisdom?
Will they dare brag about all their wise
ancestors?
Where are your wise counselors, Pharaoh?
Let them tell you what God plans,
what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is
going to do to Egypt.
The officials of Zoan are fools,
and the officials of Memphis* are deluded.
The leaders of the people
have led Egypt astray.
The Lord has sent a spirit of foolishness
on them,
so all their suggestions are wrong.
They cause Egypt to stagger
like a drunk in his vomit.
There is nothing Egypt can do.
All are helpless—
the head and the tail,
the noble palm branch and the lowly
reed.
16 In that day the Egyptians will be as weak
as women. They will cower in fear beneath the
upraised fist of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
17 Just to speak the name of Israel will terrorize
them, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has laid
out his plans against them.
18 In that day five of Egypt’s cities will follow
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. They will even
begin to speak Hebrew, the language of Canaan.
One of these cities will be Heliopolis, the City
of the Sun.*
19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord
in the heart of Egypt, and there will be a monument to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign