Isaiah 19

The Burden against Egypt

¹This is the burden against Egypt:

Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud;

He is coming to Egypt.

The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him,

and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.

• IS 19:1[DEMONIC]The idols of Egypt tremble before God

²“So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian;

brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor,

city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

³Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them,

and I will frustrate their plans,

so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead,

to mediums and spiritists.

• IS 19:3[DEMONIC]Egypt turns to idols, the dead, and mediums

⁴I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of a harsh master,

and a fierce king will rule over them,”

declares the Lord Yahweh of Hosts.

• IS 19:4[PROPHECY]A harsh master and fierce king would rule Egypt → HISTORY: The Assyrian king Esarhaddon conquered Egypt and took its capital Memphis in 671 BC. Shown on his stone monument found at Zincirli in Turkey.MEDIUM

⁵The waters of the Nile will dry up,

and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

⁶The canals will stink;

the streams of Egypt 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 Yahweh of Hosts has planned against Egypt.

¹³The princes of Zoan have become fools;

the princes of Memphis are deceived.

The cornerstones of her tribes

have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴Yahweh has poured into her

a spirit of confusion.

Egypt has been led astray in all she does,

as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.

¹⁵There is nothing Egypt can do—

head or tail, palm or reed.

A Blessing upon the Earth

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of Yahweh of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them. ¹⁷The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble over what Yahweh of Hosts has planned against it.

¹⁸In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to Yahweh of Hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.

¹⁹In that day there will be an altar to Yahweh in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Yahweh near her border. ²⁰It will be a sign and a witness to Yahweh of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to Yahweh because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them. ²¹Yahweh will make Himself known to Egypt, and on that day Egypt will acknowledge Yahweh. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to Yahweh and fulfill them.

• IS 19:19[PROPHECY]An altar to Yahweh would stand in the middle of Egypt → HISTORY: The Jewish priest Onias built a temple to Yahweh at Leontopolis in Egypt about 160 BC, pointing to this verse. Recorded by Josephus, Antiquities 13.3.1.MEDIUM

²²And Yahweh will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to Yahweh, and He will hear their prayers 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.

• IS 19:23[PROPHECY]Egypt, Assyria, and Israel would worship Yahweh together as one blessed people → STILL TO COMEMEDIUM

²⁴In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth. ²⁵Yahweh of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”