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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 19

Isaiah 19: the burden of Egypt, from civil war to blessing

General context

The burden of Egypt opens with the Lord riding a swift cloud into Egypt; the idols shake and Egypt's heart melts. He sets Egyptian against Egyptian, brother against brother and kingdom against kingdom, destroys their counsel so they seek idols, charmers and wizards, and hands them to a cruel lord and a fierce king, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. The waters fail: the river dries, reeds wither, fishers mourn, workers in flax and nets are confounded, and makers of fishponds are broken. The princes of Zoan are called fools and Pharaoh's counsellors brutish despite claiming descent from the wise and from ancient kings; the princes of Noph are deceived, the Lord has mingled a perverse spirit, and Egypt staggers like a drunken man in his vomit, with no work left for head or tail. In that day Egypt is like women, afraid at the shaking of the Lord's hand, and the land of Judah is a terror to it. Then five cities in Egypt speak the language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts, one called The city of destruction; an altar to the Lord stands in the midst of Egypt and a pillar at its border as a sign and witness; the Egyptians cry because of oppressors and he sends them a saviour and a great one. The Lord is known to Egypt, the Egyptians sacrifice and vow, and he smites and heals them. A highway joins Egypt and Assyria, the two serve together, and Israel is the third with them, a blessing in the midst of the land, as the Lord of hosts says, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Cited passages: Isaiah 19:1, Isaiah 19:2, Isaiah 19:3, Isaiah 19:4, Isaiah 19:5, Isaiah 19:7, Isaiah 19:8, Isaiah 19:9, Isaiah 19:10, Isaiah 19:11, Isaiah 19:13, Isaiah 19:14, Isaiah 19:15, Isaiah 19:16, Isaiah 19:17, Isaiah 19:18, Isaiah 19:19, Isaiah 19:20, Isaiah 19:21, Isaiah 19:22, Isaiah 19:23, Isaiah 19:24, Isaiah 19:25

Isaiah 19 (KJV)

1The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

2And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

3And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

4And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

5And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

6And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

7The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

8The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.

9Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.

10And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.

11Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

12Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.

13The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.

14The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

15Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.

16In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it.

17And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

18In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.

19In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.

20And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

21And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it.

22And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

23In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

24In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:

25Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The heading names Egypt as the addressee. Pharaoh is mentioned as a title, not by name, and the cruel lord and fierce king who will rule Egypt are unnamed, as is the saviour and great one sent later; the text does not say whether these are the same person or when they come. Zoan and Noph are named as seats of princes, and the sea, river and brooks are Egypt's waters without further description. The Lord speaks in the first person in the opening verses, I will set, I will give over, marked saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, and the rest is in the narrating voice. The language of Canaan spoken by five cities and the name The city of destruction are stated without explanation. The chapter does not date the civil war, the drought, or the day when Egypt, Assyria and Israel are blessed together; each stage is introduced only by in that day. The final verse calls Egypt my people, a title the book uses for Israel from its first chapter, and the chapter itself does not comment on that. Assyria appears here as a partner rather than as the rod of chapter ten, and chapter twenty returns to Assyria as Egypt's captor.

Cited passages: Isaiah 19:1, Isaiah 19:11, Isaiah 19:4, Isaiah 19:20, Isaiah 19:13, Isaiah 19:2, Isaiah 19:18, Isaiah 19:25, Isaiah 1:3, Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah 20:4

Literary context

The burden moves from collapse to blessing through a chain of six in that day sayings. The first half dismantles Egypt in layers, worship, politics, water, trades and wisdom: idols shake, brothers fight, the river dries, fishers and weavers lose their work, and the counsellors who boast of ancient kings are called fools twice. The head or tail with no work to do repeats the head and tail cut off from Israel in chapter nine, so Egypt is judged in Israel's terms. The turn comes with fear: Egypt like women, and Judah a terror. From there each in that day adds something Egypt gains rather than loses, the language of Canaan, an altar and pillar, a saviour, knowledge of the Lord, healing after smiting, a highway. The pair smite and heal is stated in one verse as a single act. The last verse is a three-part blessing in which the order is Egypt, Assyria, Israel, and Israel is called the third, so the nation the book addresses is named last and placed in the midst. The next chapter's dated sign against Egypt and Ethiopia stands beside this promise without reconciling the two.

Cited passages: Isaiah 19:1, Isaiah 19:2, Isaiah 19:5, Isaiah 19:11, Isaiah 19:13, Isaiah 19:14, Isaiah 19:15, Isaiah 9:14, Isaiah 19:16, Isaiah 19:17, Isaiah 19:22, Isaiah 19:24, Isaiah 20:3

Key moments

  1. The Lord rides into Egypt (Isaiah 19:1). The Lord comes on a swift cloud and Egypt's idols and heart give way.
  2. Egyptian against Egyptian (Isaiah 19:2). The Lord sets brother against brother and kingdom against kingdom.
  3. The river dries (Isaiah 19:5). Waters fail, reeds wither and the fishers mourn.
  4. Princes of Zoan are fools (Isaiah 19:11). Pharaoh's counsellors, boasting of ancient kings, are called brutish.
  5. An altar in Egypt (Isaiah 19:19). An altar and a border pillar to the Lord stand in Egypt as a witness.
  6. Smite and heal (Isaiah 19:22). The Lord strikes Egypt and heals it when they return to him.
  7. Egypt, Assyria and Israel blessed (Isaiah 19:25). The Lord of hosts blesses all three nations by name.

For reflection

The same chapter that dries Egypt's river and calls its princes fools ends with the Lord saying Blessed be Egypt my people. What in the chapter's own sequence makes the second statement follow from the first?

People in this chapter

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