The destiny of Egypt

The disaster of Egypt

Oracle on Egypt

19 Behold! On swift cloud riding

the Lord is coming to Egypt:

the idols of Egypt will quake at his presence,

the heart of Egypt will melt within her.

2 I will spur on Egypt to fight against Egypt,

brother with brother, and neighbour with neighbour,

city with city, and kingdom with kingdom.

3 Then will Egypt be drained of the spirit within her,

and I will confound her counsels:

to idols and muttering wraiths they will seek,

to ghosts and familiar spirits.

4 And I will deliver Egypt

into a stern lord’s hands;

a king who is fierce will rule over her,

says the Lord the Lord of Hosts.

5 And the sea will be drained of its water,

the river be parched and dry;

6 its branches will dwindle and stink,

and the arms of the Nile will be parched.

Reeds and rushes will wither,

7 the sedge on its brink will shrivel;

and all that is sown by the Nile

will be withered and whirled into nothing.

8 The fishers mourn and lament,

who cast their hook in the Nile;

and all the spread their nets

on the face of the waters will languish.

9 The workers in flax will be shamed,

the combers and weavers of white stuff;

10 the weavers of cloth will be crushed,

and the workers for hire will be sorrowful.

11 Sheer fools are the princes of Zoan;

the wisest of Pharaoh’s counsellors

prove but a witless council.

How then can you say unto Pharaoh,

‘A son of the wise am I,

a son of ancient kings’?

12 Where are your wise men, then?

Let them, pray, declare unto you,

and make known what the Lord of Hosts

has purposed to do unto Egypt.

13 Befooled are the princes of Zoan,

deceived are the princes of memphis;

the chieftains of her tribes

have led Egypt all astray.

14 The Lord has mingled within them

the spirit of clouded judgment;

and so they led Egypt astray

in all her enterprise,

as a drunkard strays in his vomit.

15 Thus head, tail, palm-branch and rush,

will nothing accomplish for Egypt.

The conversion of Egypt

16 In that day will Egypt fear and tremble like a woman, at the hand which the Lord of Hosts 17 will swing over her. The land of Judah will be a terror to her; the very mention of the name will fill her with dread at the thought of the purpose which the Lord of Hosts has formed against her.

18 In that day there will be in the land of Egypt five cities speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing allegiance to the Lord of Hosts; and one of them will be called the City of the Sun.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to 20 the Lord at the border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt: for when, under oppression, they cry to the Lord to send a deliver, he will intervene and rescue 21 them. And the Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will acknowledge the Lord on that day: they will worship him with sacrifice and offering, they will make vows to the Lord and discharge them. The Lord will smite 22 Egypt – smite and heal her: when they turn to the Lord, he will heal them in answer to their entreaty.

23 In that day there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. Assyrians will come to Egypt, and Egyptians to Assyria: Egyptians and Assyrians will worship (the Lord) in common. 24 In that day Israel will join Egypt and Assyria in a triple alliance, and so bring blessing to the world 25 around, which the Lord of Hosts has in these words blessed: ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.’