The Burden against Egypt 1 UDB Isaiah received this message from Yahweh about Egypt: Listen to this! I, Yahweh, am coming toward Egypt, riding on a fast-moving cloud. The idols in Egypt will tremble when I appear, and the people of Egypt will be extremely afraid. BSB BSB: This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD 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.
2 UDB I will cause the people of Egypt to fight against each other: men will fight against their brothers; neighbors will fight against each other; people of one city will fight against the people of another city; people of one province will fight against the people of another province. BSB BSB: “So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 UDB The people of Egypt will become very discouraged, and I will cause their plans to not be successful. They will plead with idols and sorcerers and those who talk with spirits of dead people to tell them what they should do. BSB BSB: Then 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.
4 UDB Then I will enable someone who will treat them very cruelly to become their king. That is what I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, say. BSB BSB: I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of a harsh master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
5 UDB The water in the Nile River will dry up, and the riverbed will become very dry. BSB BSB: The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.
6 UDB The branches of the river will all dry up. The canals along the river will stink because of the withering and rotting reeds and bulrushes. BSB BSB: The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.
7 UDB All the plants along the river and all the crops in the fields bordering the river will dry up; then they will blow away and disappear. BSB BSB: The 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.
8 UDB The fishermen will throw into the river lines with hooks on them and nets, and then they will groan and be very discouraged; they will be sad because there will be no fish in the river. BSB BSB: Then 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.
9 UDB Those who weave cloth from flax will not know what to do because there will be no thread for them to weave. BSB BSB: The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale.
10 UDB They will all despair and be very discouraged. BSB BSB: The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the hired workers will be sick at heart.
11 UDB The officials in the city of Zoan in northern Egypt are foolish. The advice that they gave to the king was worthless. Why do they continue to tell the king that they are wise, that they are descendants of wise kings who lived long ago? BSB BSB: The 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”?
12 UDB King, where are your wise advisors now? If you had any wise advisors, they could tell you what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, has planned to do to Egypt! BSB BSB: Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.
13 UDB Yes, the officials of Zoan have become foolish, and the leaders in the city of Memphis in northern Egypt have deceived themselves. All the leaders of the people have caused their people to do wrong things. BSB BSB: The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
14 UDB Yahweh has caused them to be very foolish, with the result that in everything that they do, it is as though the people of Egypt stagger like a drunken person staggers and slips in his own vomit. BSB BSB: The LORD 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.
15 UDB There is no one in Egypt, rich or poor, important or unimportant, who will be able to help them. BSB BSB: There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm or reed.
A Blessing upon the Earth 16 UDB At that time, the people of Egypt will be as helpless as women. They will tremble, being terrified because they know that Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, has raised his fist, intending to strike them. BSB BSB: In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.
17 UDB The people of Egypt will be afraid of the people of Judah, and anyone who mentions Judah to them will cause them to be terrified because that will remind them of what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, is planning to do to them. BSB BSB: The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble over what the LORD of Hosts has planned against it.
18 UDB At that time, people in five cities in Egypt will solemnly declare that they will serve Yahweh. They will learn to speak the Hebrew language. One of those cities will be called "City of the Sun." BSB BSB: In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.
19 UDB At that time, there will be an altar for worshiping Yahweh in the center of Egypt, and there will be a pillar to honor Yahweh at the border between Egypt and Israel. BSB BSB: In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near her border.
20 UDB That will be a sign to indicate that Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, is worshiped in the land of Egypt. And when the people cry out to Yahweh to help them because others are oppressing them, he will send to them someone who will defend and rescue them. BSB BSB: It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them.
21 UDB Yahweh will enable the people of Egypt to know who he is. At that time they will admit that he is God. They will worship him and bring to him offerings of grain and other sacrifices. They will solemnly promise to do things for Yahweh, and they will do what they promise. BSB BSB: The LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and on that day Egypt will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and fulfill them.
22 UDB After Yahweh has punished Egypt, he will cause their troubles to end. The people of Egypt will turn to Yahweh, and he will listen when they plead to him for help, and he will cause their troubles to cease. BSB BSB: And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.
23 UDB At that time, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. As a result, the people of Egypt will be able to travel easily to Assyria, and the people of Assyria will be able to travel easily to Egypt. And the people of both countries will worship Yahweh. BSB BSB: In 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.
24 UDB And Israel will be their ally. All three nations will be friendly to each other, and the people of Israel will be a blessing to the people of the entire world. BSB BSB: In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth.
25 UDB Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will bless them; he will say, "You people of Egypt are now my people. You people of Assyria, I have established your country. You people of Israel are the people whom I have chosen to belong to me." BSB BSB: The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.