[1] The burden against Egypt. Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.
[2] “I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
[3] The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers.
[4] And the Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them,” Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
[5] The waters will fail from the sea, And the river will be wasted and dried up.
[6] The rivers will turn foul; The brooks of defense will be emptied and dried up; The reeds and rushes will wither.
[7] The papyrus reeds by the River, by the mouth of the River, And everything sown by the River, Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.
[8] The fishermen also will mourn; All those will lament who cast hooks into the River, And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.
[9] Moreover those who work in fine flax And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;
[10] And its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul.
[11] Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings?”
[12] Where are they? Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, And let them know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
[13] The princes of Zoan have become fools; The princes of Noph are deceived; They have also deluded Egypt, Those who are the mainstay of its tribes.
[14] The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst; And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
[15] Neither will there be any work for Egypt, Which the head or tail, Palm branch or bulrush, may do.
[16] In that day Egypt will be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He waves over it.
[17] And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has determined against it.
[18] In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.
[19] In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border.
[20] And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them.
[21] Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it.
[22] And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.
[23] In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.
[24] In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land,
[25] whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”