Isaiah 19:10

English Standard Version

Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
Those who weave cloth will be broken, and those who work for money will be depressed.

New Living Translation
They will be in despair, and all the workers will be sick at heart.

Update Bible Version
And the weavers shall be broken in pieces; all those that work for wages [shall be] grieved in soul.

New Century Version
Those who weave cloth will be broken. All those who work for money will be sad.

New English Translation
Those who make cloth will be demoralized; all the hired workers will be depressed.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices [and] ponds for fish.

World English Bible
The pillars [of Egypt] shall be broken in pieces; all those who work for hire [shall be] grieved in soul.

Amplified Bible
[Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed; And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the watir places therof schulen be drye; alle that maden poondis to take fischis, schulen be schent.

English Revised Version
And her pillars shall be broken in pieces, all they that work for hire shall be grieved in soul.

Berean Standard Bible
The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

Contemporary English Version
Weavers will be confused; paid workers will cry and mourn.

American Standard Version
And the pillars of Egypt shall be broken in pieces; all they that work for hire shall be grieved in soul.

Bible in Basic English
And the makers of twisted thread will be crushed, and those who Three dots are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic English. will be sad in heart.

Complete Jewish Bible
the spinners will be crushed, the hired workers dejected.

Darby Translation
And her pillars shall be broken in pieces, and all workers for hire shall be sad of soul.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And her foundations shall be crushed, all they that make dams shall be grieved in soul.

King James Version (1611)
And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluces and ponds for fish.

New Life Bible
The pillars of Egypt will be crushed. All the able workmen will be filled with sorrow.

New Revised Standard
Its weavers will be dismayed, and all who work for wages will be grieved.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For their nettes shalbe broken, and all they, that make pondes, shalbe heauie in heart.

George Lamsa Translation
And all those who make strong drink for the drinking of the people shall be humiliated.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shall her pillars be crushed, - All who make wages, be bowed down in soul.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And its watery places shall be dry, all they shall mourn that made pools to take fishes.

Revised Standard Version
Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for hire will be grieved.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For their open workes shal euen be destroyed, and all they that make pondes and slues for fishe shall come to naught.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they that work at them shall be in pain, and all that make beer shall be grieved, and be pained in their souls.

Good News Translation
weavers and skilled workers will be broken and depressed.

Christian Standard Bible®
Egypt’s weavers will be dejected;all her wage earners will be demoralized.

Hebrew Names Version
The pillars [of Mitzrayim] shall be broken in pieces; all those who work for hire [shall be] grieved in soul.

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

Lexham English Bible
And her weavers will be crushed; all the hired workers will be grieved of heart.

Literal Translation
And her supports shall be crushed; and all who make wages shall be sad of soul.

Young's Literal Translation
And its foundations have been smitten, All making wages [are] afflicted in soul.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
All the poundes of Egipte, all the policie of their Moates & diches shal come to naught.

New American Standard Bible
And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

New King James Version
And its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed;All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

Contextual Overview

¹ An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. ² And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; ³ and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; ⁴ and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts. ⁵ And the waters of the sea will be dried up, and the river will be dry and parched, ⁶ and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away. ⁷ There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched, will be driven away, and will be no more. ⁸ The fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast a hook in the Nile; and they will languish who spread nets on the water. ⁹ The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. ¹⁰ Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

purposes: Heb. foundations

make: Exodus 7:19, Exodus 8:5, Deuteronomy 11:10

for fish: or, of living things

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof,.... Meaning either the persons that work in flax, or in making nets; who shall be disappointed in their views, expectations, and designs, in bringing them to a good market, since there will be no buyers. The word for "purposes" signifies foundations, as in Psalms 11:3 and may design dams and banks, that are made to keep in the water, which shall be broken down, and be of no service to answer the end; but Kimchi observes, that the word in the Talmudic language signifies "nets", as it does n; and this seems to be most agreeable to the context; and then the words may be rendered, "and its nets shall be broken" o; shall lie and rot for want of use:

all that make sluices [and] ponds for fish; or, "all that make an enclosure of ponds of soul" p; or for delight and pleasure; that is, not only such shall be broken in their purposes, ashamed and confounded, and be dispirited, mourn and lament, whose business and employment it is to catch fish, or make nets for that end, and get their livelihood thereby; but even such who enclose a confluence of water, and make fishponds in their fields and gardens for their pleasure, will be disappointed; for their waters there will be dried up, and the fish die, as well as in the common rivers. The Septuagint version renders it, "and all they that make zythum shall grieve"; "zythum" was a sort of malt liquor of the ancients; and the word for "sluices" is of affinity with a word that is often used for strong drink; and so the Syriac version here,

"and all they shall be humbled that make strong drink, for the drink of the soul;''

or for men to drink for pleasure.

n T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 124. 2. Bava Kama, fol. 117. 1. o "Et erunt retia ejus contrita", Pagninus, Montanus. p כל עושי שכר אגמי נפש "omnes facientes clausuram stagnorum animae", Montanus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they shall be broken - There has been a great variety of opinion in regard to the interpretation of this verse, and much difficulty in the construction of the Hebrew words. The Vulgate renders it, ‘And its wet places shall fail; all who make ponds to take fish.’ The Septuagint, ‘And all who make beer (ζύθον zuthon) shall lament, and shall afflict their souls.’ This ζύθον zuthon was a sort of malt liquor made of fruits by fermentation, and was used in Egypt in the place of wine, since the grape did not flourish there. Jerome on this place says, that this was much used also in Dalmatia and Pannonia, and was commonly called “Sabaium.” The Chaldee renders this, ‘And the place where they weave cloth shall be trodden down, and the place where they make fish ponds, and where they collect waters, each one for his own life.’ This variety of reading arises chiefly from the different modes of “pointing” the Hebrew words.

The word rendered ‘broken’ (מדכאים m^edâkâ'iym) means “trodden down,” from דכא dâkâ' “to tread, or trample down,” and agrees in the Hebrew with the word rendered ‘purposes - the proposes shall be trodden down.’ The word ‘purposes’ (שׁתתיה shâtoteyhâ) is found only in the plural, and is translated in Psalms 11:3, ‘foundations,’ from שׁית shiyth, “foundation or pillar.” According to this, it would mean that all “the pillars or foundations, that is, probably all the “nobles” of Egypt, would be trodden down. But this does not well suit the connection. Others derive it from שׁתה shâtâh, “to drink;” and suppose that it means that which is prepared for drink shall be trodden down or destroyed. Others suppose that it is derived from שׁתה shâtâh, “to weave,” and that it refers to the places where they wove the cloth, that is, their looms; or to the places where they made their nets. And others suppose that it is not the “places” where they wove which are intended, but the “weavers themselves.” Forerius supposes it to be derived from שׁתת shâthath, “to place, lay,” and that it refers to the “banks or dykes” that were made to retain the waters in the canals, and that these would be trodden down. This, it seems to me, is the most probable interpretation, as it suits the connection, and agrees with the derivation of the word. But the meaning cannot be certainly ascertained.

All that make sluices - There has been quite as great a variety in the intepretation of this passage as in the former. The word rendered ‘sluices’ (שׂכר s'eker), our translators understand in the sense of places where the water would be retained for fish ponds - made by artificial banks confining the waters that overflow from the Nile. This sense they have given to the word, as if it were derived from סכר sâkar, “to shut up, to enclose.” The Septuagint reads it as if it meant the Hebrew שׁכר shêkār, or strong drink; and so also the Syriac renders it - as if from שׁכר shēkâr, “to drink.” There is no doubt that by a difference of pointing it may have this signification. But the most probable interpretation, perhaps, is that which derives it from שׂכר s'âkar, “to hire,” and means that they made those places for reward, or for gain. They thus tolled for hire; and the prophet says, that they who thus made enclosures for fish in order to make a livelihood, would be trodden down - that is, they would fail of their purposes.

Ponds for fish - The word rendered ‘fish’ (נפשׁ nephesh), denotes properly any living thing (“see the margin”), but if the usual interpretation is given of this verse, it is evident that fish are intended. The description, therefore, in this entire passage, from verse fifth to verse tenth, is designed to denote the calamities which would come upon Egypt from the failure of the waters of the Nile; and the slightest knowledge of the importance of the Nile to that country will show that all these calamities would follow from such a failure.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 19:10. And they shall be broken, c. - "Her stores"] שתתיה shathotheyha, αποθηκαι, granaries. - Aquila.

All that make sluices and ponds for fish - "All that make a gain of pools for fish."] This obscure line is rendered by different interpreters in very different manners. Kimchi explains אגמי agmey as if it were the same with אגמה agemah, from Job 30:25, in which he is followed by some of the rabbins, and supported by the Septuagint: and שכר secher, which I translate gain, and which some take for nets or inclosures, the Septuagint render by ζυθον, strong drink or beer, which it is well known was much used in Egypt and so likewise the Syriac, retaining the Hebrew word שכרא sekra. I submit these very different interpretations to the reader's judgment. The Version of the Septuagint is as follows:

Και παντες οἱ ποιουντες τον ζυθον λυπηθησονται, και τας ψυχας πονεσουσι· "And all they that make barley wine shall mourn, and be grieved in soul."