[1] The word about Egypt. See, the Lord is seated on a quick-moving cloud,
and is coming to Egypt: and the false gods of Egypt will be troubled at his
coming, and the heart of Egypt will be turned to water. [2] And I will send
the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they will be fighting every one
against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; town against
town, and kingdom against kingdom. [3] And the spirit of Egypt will be
troubled in her, and I will make her decisions without effect: and they
will be turning to the false gods, and to those who make hollow sounds, and
to those who have control of spirits, and to those who are wise in secret
arts. [4] And I will give the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and
a hard king will be their ruler, says the Lord, the Lord of armies. [5] And
the waters of the sea will be cut off, and the river will become dry and
waste: [6] And the rivers will have an evil smell; the stream of Egypt will
become small and dry: all the water-plants will come to nothing. [7] The
grass-lands by the Nile, and everything planted by the Nile, will become
dry, or taken away by the wind, and will come to an end. [8] The fishermen
will be sad, and all those who put fishing-lines into the Nile will be full
of grief, and those whose nets are stretched out on the waters will have
sorrow in their hearts. [9] And all the workers in linen thread, and those
who make cotton cloth, will be put to shame. [10] And the makers of twisted
thread will be crushed, and those who ... will be sad in heart. [11] The
chiefs of Zoan are completely foolish; the wisest guides of Pharaoh have
become like beasts: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise,
the offspring of early kings? [12] Where, then, are your wise men? let them
make clear to you, let them give you knowledge of the purpose of the Lord
of armies for Egypt. [13] The chiefs of Zoan have become foolish, the
chiefs of Noph are tricked, the heads of her tribes are the cause of
Egypt's wandering out of the way. [14] The Lord has sent among them a
spirit of error: and by them Egypt is turned out of the right way in all
her doings, as a man overcome by wine is uncertain in his steps. [15] And
in Egypt there will be no work for any man, head or tail, high or low, to
do. [16] In that day the Egyptians will be like women: and the land will be
shaking with fear because of the waving of the Lord's hand stretched out
over it. [17] And the land of Judah will become a cause of great fear to
Egypt; whenever its name comes to mind, Egypt will be in fear before the
Lord of armies because of his purpose against it. [18] In that day there
will be five towns in the land of Egypt using the language of Canaan, and
making oaths to the Lord of armies; and one of them will be named, The Town
of the Sun. [19] In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the
middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at the edge of the
land. [20] And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the
land of Egypt: when they are crying out to the Lord because of their cruel
masters, then he will send them a saviour and a strong one to make them
free. [21] And the Lord will give the knowledge of himself to Egypt, and
the Egyptians will give honour to the Lord in that day; they will give him
worship with offerings and meal offerings, and will take an oath to the
Lord and give effect to it. [22] And the Lord will send punishment on
Egypt, and will make them well again; and when they come back to the Lord
he will give ear to their prayer and take away their disease. [23] In that
day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come
into Egypt, and Egypt will come into Assyria; and the Egyptians will give
worship to the Lord together with the Assyrians. [24] In that day Israel
will be the third together with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the earth:
[25] Because of the blessing of the Lord of armies which he has given them,
saying, A blessing on Egypt my people, and on Assyria the work of my hands,
and on Israel my heritage.
