A prophecy against Egypt

1A prophecy against Egypt:

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud

and is coming to Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him,

and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.

2‘I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian –

brother will fight against brother,

neighbour against neighbour,

city against city,

kingdom against kingdom.

3The Egyptians will lose heart,

and I will bring their plans to nothing;

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

the mediums and the spiritists.

4I will hand the Egyptians over

to the power of a cruel master,

and a fierce king will rule over them,’

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

5The waters of the river will dry up,

and the river bed will be parched and dry.

6The canals will stink;

the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.

The reeds and rushes will wither,

7also the plants along the Nile,

at the mouth of the river.

Every sown field along the Nile

will become parched, will blow away and be no more.

8The fishermen will groan and lament,

all who cast hooks into the Nile;

those who throw nets on the water

will pine away.

9Those who work with combed flax will despair,

the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.

10The workers in cloth will be dejected,

and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

11The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools;

the wise counsellors of Pharaoh give senseless advice.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

‘I am one of the wise men,

a disciple of the ancient kings’?

12Where are your wise men now?

Let them show you and make known

what the Lord Almighty

has planned against Egypt.

13The officials of Zoan have become fools,

the leaders of Memphis are deceived;

the cornerstones of her peoples

have led Egypt astray.

14The Lord has poured into them

a spirit of dizziness;

they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,

as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

15There is nothing Egypt can do –

head or tail, palm branch or reed.

16In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the Lord Almighty is planning against them.

18In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.19:18 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls, Symmachus and Vulgate; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text City of Destruction

19In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. 20It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a saviour and defender, and he will rescue them. 21So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. 22The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

23In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing19:24 Or Assyria, whose names will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or Assyria, who will be seen by others as blessed on the earth. 25The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’