Against Egypt

¹ An oracle concerning Egypt:

Yahweh rides on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him;

the heart of Egypt melts within it.

² I will stir Egyptians against each other:

brother will fight against brother,

friend against friend,

city against city,

kingdom against kingdom.

³ The Egyptians will lose heart for I will confound their plans;

they will consult idols and sorcerers,

ghosts and necromancers.

⁴ I will deliver the Egyptians

into the hands of a cruel master,

and a tyrant will be their ruler.

It is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks.

⁵ The waters of the river will dry up;

the river bed will be parched.

⁶ The canals will become foul dry,

the tributaries of Egypt’s Nile will dwindle and cease to flow.

The reeds and rushes will wither.

⁷ The plants on the banks

and at the mouth of the river,

and all the crops along the Nile will dry up, blow away and be no more.

⁸ The fishermen will mourn,

all who cast hook in the Nile will groan,

and those who throw nets upon the waters will lament.

⁹ The flax worker will despair,

the carders, too, and white cloth weavers;

¹⁰ the spinners will be crushed;

the hired laborers despondent.

¹¹ The princes of Zoan are utter fools,

and brutish is the counsel

of the wisest of Pharaoh’s counselors.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the wise men,

a disciple of ancient kings?”

¹² Where are your wise men?

Let them come forward now,

let them explain to you

what Yahweh will do against Egypt.

¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools;

the princes of Memphis have been deceived;

Egypt is led astray by the chiefs of her tribes.

¹⁴ Yahweh has poured into them a spirit

which makes Egypt err in all her ventures,

as a vomiting drunkard errs.

¹⁵ And Egypt will never succeed

in anything it attempts

by head or by tail, by palm or by reed.

Egypt will be converted

¹⁶ On that day the Egyptians will be like a woman trembling in fear whenever they see the hand of Yahweh Sabaoth raised against them. ¹⁷ Judah will be a terror to Egypt. Whenever they think of Judah, the Egyptians will be terrified because of the terrible fate Yahweh Sabaoth has in store for them.

¹⁸ On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, in which people will call upon Yahweh Sabaoth. One of them is called the City of the Sun.

¹⁹ On that day there will be an altar to Yahweh in the center of the land of Egypt and a sacred pillar to Yahweh at its border. ²⁰ It will be a sign and a remembrance of Yahweh Sabaoth in the land of Egypt, so that they may call to him when they are oppressed, and he will send a savior to defend and deliver them. ²¹ Yah weh will reveal himself to the Egyptians. They will acknowledge him on that day and worship him with sacrifice and burnt offerings. They will make vows to Yahweh and perform them. ²² Yah weh will strike Egypt and then cure it. When they turn to him, he will heal them and heed their supplications.

²³ On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. Assyrians will come to Egypt, and Egyptians to Assyria. Egyptians and As syrians will worship together.

²⁴ On that day, Israel will be a third party with Egypt and Assyria – a blessing on earth. ²⁵ And Yahweh will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my creation, and Israel my heritage.”