¹     Oracle on Egypt:
See, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud
    on his way to Egypt;
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.^(A)
2 I will stir up Egypt against Egypt:
    brother will war against brother,
Neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
³ The courage of the Egyptians shall ebb away within them,
    and I will bring their counsel to nought;
They shall consult idols and charmers, ghosts and clairvoyants.^(B)
4 I will deliver Egypt
    into the power of a cruel master,
A harsh king^[a] who shall rule over them—
    oracle of the Lord, the Lord of hosts.^(C)
5 The waters shall be drained from the sea,
    the river shall parch and dry up;^(D)
6 Its streams shall become foul,
    and the canals of Egypt shall dwindle and parch.^(E)
Reeds and rushes shall wither away,
⁷     and bulrushes on the bank of the Nile;^(F)
All the sown land along the Nile
    shall dry up and blow away, and be no more.
⁸ The fishermen shall mourn and lament,
    all who cast hook in the Nile;
Those who spread their nets in the water
    shall pine away.
⁹ The linen-workers shall be disappointed,
    the combers and weavers shall turn pale;^(G)
10 The spinners shall be crushed,
    all the hired laborers shall be despondent.
¹¹ Utter fools are the princes of Zoan!^[b]
    the wisest of Pharaoh’s advisers give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am a descendant of wise men, of ancient kings”?
¹² Where then are your wise men?
    Let them tell you and make known
What the Lord of hosts has planned
    against Egypt.^(H)
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools,
    the princes of Memphis have been deceived.
The chiefs of its tribes
    have led Egypt astray.^(I)
14 The Lord has prepared among them
    a spirit of dizziness,
And they have made Egypt stagger in whatever she does,
    as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.^(J)
15 Egypt shall accomplish nothing—
    neither head nor tail, palm branch nor reed,^[c] shall accomplish anything.