Isaiah 19:1-17

New American Standard Bible

Message to Egypt

19 The ^(A)pronouncement concerning ^(B)Egypt:

Behold, the Lord is ^(C)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The ^(D)idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the ^(E)heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
²“So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will fight, ^(F)each against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
³Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confuse their strategy,
So that ^(G)they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead,
And to ^[a]mediums and spiritists.
⁴Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a ^(H)cruel master,
And a ^[b]mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord ^[c]God of armies.

⁵^(I)The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
⁶The ^[d]^(J)canals will emit a stench,
The ^[e]^(K)streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
^(L)The reeds and rushes will rot away.
⁷The bulrushes by the ^(M)Nile, by the ^[f]edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
⁸And the ^(N)fishermen will grieve,
And all those who cast a ^[g]line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will dwindle away.
⁹Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white ^(O)cloth will be ^[h]utterly dejected.
¹⁰And ^[i]the ^(P)pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

¹¹The officials of ^[j]^(Q)Zoan are mere fools;
The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become ^[k]stupid.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the ^(R)wise, a son of ancient kings”?
¹²Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them ^[l]understand what the Lord of armies
Has ^(S)planned against Egypt.
¹³The officials of ^[m]Zoan have turned out to be fools,
The officials of ^(T)Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the ^(U)cornerstone of her tribes
Have ^[n]led Egypt astray.
¹⁴The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of ^(V)distortion;
^(W)They have led Egypt astray in all ^[o]that it does,
As a ^(X)drunken person ^[p]staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵There will be no work for Egypt
^(Y)Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.

¹⁶On that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in great ^(Z)fear because of the ^(AA)waving of the hand of the Lord of armies, which He is going to wave over them. ¹⁷The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the ^(AB)plan of the Lord of armies which He is making against them.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 19:3 Or ghosts and spirits
Isaiah 19:4 Or fierce
Isaiah 19:4 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 19:6 Lit rivers
Isaiah 19:6 Or Nile branches; i.e., the delta
Isaiah 19:7 Or mouth
Isaiah 19:8 Lit hook
Isaiah 19:9 Lit ashamed
Isaiah 19:10 Lit her pillars; or her weavers
Isaiah 19:11 Or Tanis
Isaiah 19:11 Or brutish
Isaiah 19:12 Or know
Isaiah 19:13 Or Tanis
Isaiah 19:13 Or have caused Egypt to stagger
Isaiah 19:14 Lit its work
Isaiah 19:14 Or goes astray

Jeremiah 46:2-26

New American Standard Bible

²To ^(A)Egypt, concerning the army of ^(B)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at ^(C)Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the ^(D)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³“^(E)Set up the ^[a]buckler and shield,
And advance to the battle!
⁴Harness the horses,
And ^[b]mount the steeds,
Take your stand with helmets on!
^(F)Polish the spears,
Put on the ^(G)coats of armor!
⁵Why have I seen it?
They are terrified,
They are ^(H)retreating,
And their ^(I)warriors are defeated
And have taken refuge in flight,
Without facing back.
^[c]^(J)Terror is on every side!”
Declares the Lord.
⁶Let not the ^(K)swift man flee,
Nor the warrior escape.
In the north beside the river Euphrates
They have ^(L)stumbled and fallen.
⁷Who is this that ^(M)rises like the Nile,
Like the rivers whose waters surge?
⁸Egypt rises like the Nile,
And like the rivers whose waters surge;
And He has said, “I will ^(N)rise and cover that land;
I will ^(O)destroy the city and its inhabitants.”
⁹Go up, you horses, and ^[d]^(P)drive wildly, you chariots,
So that the warriors may ^[e]march forward:
^[f]Cush and ^[g]^(Q)Put, who handle the shield,
And the ^[h]^(R)Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.
¹⁰For ^(S)that day belongs to the Lord ^[i]God of armies,
A day of ^(T)vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes;
And the ^(U)sword will devour and be satisfied,
And ^[j]drink its fill of their blood;
For there will be a ^(V)slaughter for the Lord ^[k]God of armies,
In the land of the north at the river Euphrates.
¹¹Go ^(W)up to Gilead and obtain balm,
^(X)Virgin daughter of Egypt!
You have used many ^[l]remedies in vain;
There is ^(Y)no healing for you.
¹²The nations have heard of your ^(Z)shame,
And the earth is full of your ^(AA)cry of distress;
For one ^(AB)warrior has stumbled over ^[m]another,
And both of them have fallen down together.

¹³This is the ^[n]message which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the ^(AC)coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to ^(AD)strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in ^(AE)Migdol,
Proclaim also in Memphis and ^(AF)Tahpanhes;
Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,
For the ^(AG)sword has devoured those around you.’
¹⁵Why have your ^(AH)powerful ones been cut down?
They do not stand because the Lord has ^(AI)thrust them away.
¹⁶They have repeatedly ^(AJ)stumbled;
Indeed, they have fallen, one against another.
Then they said, ‘Get up, and ^(AK)let’s go back
To our own people and our native land,
Away from the ^[o]^(AL)sword of the oppressor!’
¹⁷^[p]They shouted there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but ^(AM)a big noise;
He has let the appointed time pass by!’
¹⁸As I live,” declares the ^(AN)King,
Whose name is the Lord of armies,
“One certainly shall come who is like ^(AO)Tabor among the mountains,
Or like ^(AP)Carmel by the sea.
¹⁹Make your baggage ready for ^(AQ)exile,
^(AR)Daughter living in Egypt,
For ^(AS)Memphis will become a desolation;
It will be destroyed and ^[q]deprived of inhabitants.
²⁰Egypt is a pretty ^(AT)heifer,
But a ^[r]horsefly is coming ^(AU)from the north—it is coming!
²¹Also her ^(AV)mercenaries in her midst
Are like fattened ^(AW)calves,
For they too have turned away and have fled together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their disaster has come upon them,
The time of their ^(AX)punishment.
²²Its sound moves along like a serpent;
For they move on ^[s]like an army
And come to her as woodcutters with axes.
²³They have cut down her ^(AY)forest,” declares the Lord;
“Certainly it will no longer be found,
Even though ^[t]they are more numerous than ^(AZ)locusts
And are without number.
²⁴The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,
Turned over to the ^[u]power of the ^(BA)people of the north.”

²⁵The Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of ^(BB)Thebes, and ^(BC)Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her ^(BD)gods and her kings, indeed, Pharaoh and those who ^(BE)trust in him. ²⁶I shall hand them over to those who are ^(BF)seeking their lives, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to his ^[v]officers. ^(BG)Afterward, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 46:3 I.e., small shield
Jeremiah 46:4 Or go up, you horsemen
Jeremiah 46:5 Heb Magor-missabib i.e., Terror is on every side
Jeremiah 46:9 Lit act like madmen
Jeremiah 46:9 Lit go forth
Jeremiah 46:9 Or Ethiopia
Jeremiah 46:9 I.e., Libya (or Somaliland)
Jeremiah 46:9 Heb Ludim
Jeremiah 46:10 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Jeremiah 46:10 Lit be saturated with
Jeremiah 46:10 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Jeremiah 46:11 Lit healings
Jeremiah 46:12 Lit warrior
Jeremiah 46:13 Lit word
Jeremiah 46:16 Lit oppressing sword
Jeremiah 46:17 Some ancient versions Call the name of Pharaoh a big noise
Jeremiah 46:19 Lit without
Jeremiah 46:20 Or possibly mosquito
Jeremiah 46:22 Or in force
Jeremiah 46:23 I.e., trees of the forest, the Egyptians
Jeremiah 46:24 Lit hand
Jeremiah 46:26 Lit servants

Ezekiel 30-32

New American Standard Bible

Grief over Egypt

30 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, ²“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord ^[a]God says:

“^(A)Wail, ‘Woe for the day!’
³For the day is near,
Indeed, ^(B)the day of the Lord is near;
It will be a day of ^(C)clouds,
A time of doom for the nations.
⁴A sword will come upon Egypt,
And there will be trembling in ^[b]Cush;
When the slain fall in Egypt,
They will ^(D)take away her ^[c]wealth,
And her foundations will be torn down.

⁵^[d]Cush, Put, Lud, all ^[e]^(E)Arabia, ^[f]Libya and the ^[g]people of the land ^[h]that is in league will fall with them by the sword.”

⁶‘This is what the Lord says:
“Indeed, those who support ^(F)Egypt will fall
And the pride of her power will come down;
From Migdol to Syene
They will fall within her by the sword,”
Declares the Lord God.
⁷“They will be desolate
In the ^(G)midst of the desolated lands;
And her cities will be
In the midst of the devastated cities.
⁸And they will ^(H)know that I am the Lord,
When I set a ^(I)fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are broken.

⁹On that day ^(J)messengers will go out from Me in ships to frighten ^(K)carefree ^[i]Cush; and ^(L)trembling will come on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it is coming!”

¹⁰‘This is what the Lord God says:

“^(M)I will also make the ^[j]hordes of Egypt cease
By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
¹¹He and his people with him,
^(N)The most ruthless of the nations,
Will be brought in to destroy the land;
And they will draw their swords against Egypt
And fill the land with the slain.
¹²Moreover, I will make the ^(O)Nile canals dry
And ^(P)sell the land into the hands of evil men.
And I will make the land desolate
And ^[k]all that is in it,
By the hand of strangers; I the Lord have spoken.”

¹³‘This is what the Lord God says:

“I will also ^(Q)destroy the idols
And make the ^[l]images cease from ^[m]^(R)Memphis.
And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt;
And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
¹⁴I will make ^(S)Pathros desolate,
Set a fire in ^(T)Zoan
And execute judgments on ^[n]^(U)Thebes.
¹⁵I will pour out My wrath on ^[o]Sin,
The stronghold of Egypt;
I will also eliminate the hordes of ^[p]Thebes.
¹⁶I will set a fire in Egypt;
^[q]Sin will writhe in anguish,
^[r]Thebes will be breached
And ^[s]Memphis will have ^[t]distresses daily.
¹⁷The young men of ^[u]^(V)On and of Pi-beseth
Will fall by the sword,
And ^[v]the women will go into captivity.
¹⁸In ^(W)Tehaphnehes the day will ^[w]be ^(X)dark
When I ^(Y)break there the yoke bars of Egypt.
Then the pride of her power will cease in her;
A cloud will cover her,
And her daughters will go into captivity.
¹⁹So I will ^(Z)execute judgments on Egypt,
And they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

Victory for Babylon

²⁰In the ^(AA)eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²¹“Son of man, I have ^(AB)broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been ^(AC)bound up ^[x]for healing ^[y]or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may be strong to wield the sword. ²²Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am ^(AD)against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms, both the strong and the ^(AE)broken; and I will make the sword ^(AF)fall from his hand. ²³And I will ^(AG)scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands. ²⁴For I will ^(AH)strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put ^(AI)My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groans of a wounded man. ²⁵So I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fail. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he ^(AJ)reaches out with it against the land of Egypt. ²⁶When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate

31 In the ^(AK)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his ^(AL)hordes,

‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
³Behold, Assyria was a ^(AM)cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade,
And ^[z]^(AN)very high,
And its top was among the ^[aa]clouds.
⁴The ^(AO)waters made it grow, the ^[ab]deep made it high.
With its rivers it continually ^[ac]extended all around its planting place,
And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
⁵Therefore ^(AP)its height was loftier than all the trees of the field
And its boughs became many and its branches long
Because of ^(AQ)many waters ^[ad]as it spread them out.
⁶All the ^(AR)birds of the sky nested in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
⁷So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its ^[ae]roots extended to many waters.
⁸The ^(AS)cedars in ^(AT)God’s garden ^[af]could not match it;
The junipers ^[ag]could not compare with its branches,
And the plane trees ^[ah]could not match its branches.
No tree in ^(AU)God’s garden ^[ai]could compare with it in its beauty.
⁹I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,
And all the trees of ^(AV)Eden, which were in the ^(AW)garden of God, were jealous of it.

¹⁰‘Therefore this is what the Lord ^[aj]God says: “Because ^[ak]it is tall in stature and has put its top among the ^[al]clouds, and its ^(AX)heart is haughty in its loftiness, ¹¹I will hand it over to a ^[am]^(AY)ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have ^(AZ)driven it out. ¹²^(BA)Foreign ^(BB)tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the ^(BC)mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have ^(BD)gone down from its shade and left it. ¹³All the ^(BE)birds of the sky will nest on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field will ^[an]rest on its fallen branches, ¹⁴so that all the trees by the waters will not be exalted in their stature, nor put their tops among the ^[ao]clouds, nor will any of their ^[ap]well-watered mighty ones stand straight in their height. For they have all been turned over to death, to the ^(BF)earth beneath, among ^[aq]mankind, ^[ar]with those who go down to the pit.”

¹⁵‘This is what the Lord God says: “On the day when it went down to Sheol I ^(BG)caused mourning; I closed the ^[as]deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. ¹⁶I made the nations ^(BH)quake from the sound of its fall when I made it ^(BI)go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the ^[at]well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of ^(BJ)Lebanon, were ^(BK)comforted in the earth beneath. ¹⁷They also ^(BL)went down with it to Sheol to those who were ^(BM)slain by the sword; and those who were its ^[au]strength lived ^(BN)in its shade among the nations.

¹⁸“To which among the trees of Eden are you so alike in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the ^(BO)uncircumcised with those who were killed by the sword. ^(BP)This is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord God.”

Grief over Pharaoh and Egypt

32 In the ^(BQ)twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, take up a ^(BR)song of mourning over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him,

‘You ^[av]compared yourself to a young ^(BS)lion of the nations,
Yet you are like the ^(BT)monster in the seas;
And you ^(BU)burst forth in your rivers
And muddied the waters with your feet
And ^[aw]fouled their rivers.’”

³This is what the Lord ^[ax]God says:

“Now I will ^(BV)spread My net over you
With a contingent of many peoples,
And they will lift you up in My net.
⁴I will leave you on the land;
I will hurl you on the ^[ay]open field.
And I will cause all the ^(BW)birds of the sky to ^[az]nest on you,
And I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth ^[ba]with you.
⁵I will lay your flesh ^(BX)on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your refuse.
⁶I will also make the land drink the discharge of your ^(BY)blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
⁷And when I ^(BZ)extinguish you,
I will ^(CA)cover the heavens and darken their ^(CB)stars;
I will cover the ^(CC)sun with a cloud
And the moon will not give its light.
⁸All the shining ^(CD)lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And will set darkness on your land,”
Declares the Lord God.

⁹“I will also ^(CE)trouble the hearts of many peoples when I ^(CF)bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. ¹⁰And I will make many peoples ^(CG)appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and ^(CH)they will tremble again and again, every person for his own life, on the day of your fall.”

¹¹For ^(CI)the Lord God says ^(CJ)this: “The sword of the king of Babylon will ^[bb]attack you. ¹²By the swords of the warriors I will make your multitude fall; all of them are ^(CK)tyrants of the nations,

And they will ^(CL)devastate the pride of Egypt,
And all its multitude will be destroyed.
¹³I will also eliminate all its cattle from beside many waters;
And ^(CM)a human foot will not muddy them anymore,
And the hoofs of animals will not muddy them.
¹⁴Then I will make their waters settle,
And make their rivers run like oil,”
Declares the Lord God.
¹⁵“When I make the land of Egypt a ^(CN)desolation,
And the land is destitute of that which filled it,
When I strike all those who live in it,
Then they shall ^(CO)know that I am the Lord.

¹⁶This is a ^(CP)song of mourning, and they shall sing it. The daughters of the nations shall sing it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall sing it,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁷In the ^(CQ)twelfth year, on the ^(CR)fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸“Son of man, ^(CS)lament for the hordes of Egypt and ^(CT)bring it down, her and the daughters of the mighty nations, to the ^(CU)netherworld, with those who go down to the pit;

¹⁹‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and make your bed with the ^(CV)uncircumcised.’

²⁰They shall fall in the midst of those who are killed by the sword. ^[bc]She is turned over to the sword; they have ^(CW)dragged her and all her hordes away. ²¹The ^(CX)strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol: ‘They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword.’

²²“^(CY)Assyria is there and all her company; ^[bd]her graves are all around ^[be]her. All of them killed, fallen by the sword, ²³whose ^(CZ)graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them killed, fallen by the sword, who ^[bf]spread terror in the land of the living.

²⁴“^(DA)Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the ^(DB)lower parts of the earth, who inflicted their terror on the ^(DC)land of the living, and ^(DD)bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit. ²⁵They have made a ^(DE)bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, killed by the sword (although their terror was ^[bg]inflicted on the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; ^[bh]they were put in the midst of the slain.

²⁶“^(DF)Meshech, ^(DG)Tubal, and all their hordes are there; their graves ^[bi]surround them. All of them were killed by the sword ^(DH)uncircumcised, though they inflicted their terror on the land of the living. ²⁷^(DI)Nor do they lie beside the fallen ^[bj]^(DJ)heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were placed under their heads; but the punishment for their ^(DK)wrongdoing rested on their bones, though the terror of these ^[bk]heroes was once in the land of the living. ²⁸But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those killed by the sword.

²⁹“There also is ^(DL)Edom, its kings and all its ^[bl]princes, who ^[bm]despite all their might are laid with those killed by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰“There also are the ^[bn]chiefs of the ^(DM)north, all of them, and all the ^(DN)Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

³¹“These Pharaoh will see, and he will ^(DO)find consolation regarding all his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army,” declares the Lord God. ³²“Though I inflicted the terror of him on the land of the living, yet he will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised along with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares the Lord God.