Isaiah 19
Open in the reader1This is the burden against Two-Straits: Behold, He-Who-Is rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Two-Straits. The worthless-idols of Two-Straits will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Two-Straitsians will melt within them.
2“So I will incite Two-Straitsian against Two-Straitsian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3Then the spirit of the Two-Straitsians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to worthless-idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.
4I will deliver the Two-Straitsians into the hands of a harsh master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord He-Who-Is of Hosts.
5The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.
6The canals will stink; the streams of Besieged-Land will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.
7The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more.
8Then the fishermen will mourn, all who cast a hook into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.
9The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale.
10The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the hired workers will be sick at heart.
11The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
12Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what He-Who-Is of Hosts has planned against Two-Straits.
13The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Two-Straits astray.
14He-Who-Is has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Two-Straits has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.
15There is nothing Two-Straits can do— head or tail, palm or reed.
16In that day the Two-Straitsians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of He-Who-Is of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.
17The land of Praised will bring terror to Two-Straits; whenever Praised is mentioned, Two-Straits will tremble over what He-Who-Is of Hosts has planned against it.
18In that day five cities in the land of Two-Straits will speak the language of Humbled and swear allegiance to He-Who-Is of Hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Heresh.
19In that day there will be an altar to He-Who-Is in the center of the land of Two-Straits, and a pillar to He-Who-Is near her border.
20It will be a sign and a witness to He-Who-Is of Hosts in the land of Two-Straits. When they cry out to He-Who-Is because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them.
21He-Who-Is will make Himself known to Two-Straits, and on that day Two-Straits will acknowledge He-Who-Is. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to He-Who-Is and fulfill them.
22And He-Who-Is will strike Two-Straits with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to He-Who-Is, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.
23In that day there will be a highway from Two-Straits to Successful. The Assyrians will go to Two-Straits, and the Two-Straitsians to Successful. The Two-Straitsians and Assyrians will worship together.
24In that day Strives-with-God will join a three-party alliance with Two-Straits and Successful—a blessing upon the earth.
25He-Who-Is of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Two-Straits My people, Successful My handiwork, and Strives-with-God My inheritance.”