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An Oracle Concerning Egypt

¹ The ^(F1)(C1)oracle concerning ^(C2)Egypt.

Behold, Yahweh is ^(C3)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The ^(C4)idols of Egypt will shake at His presence,
And the ^(C5)heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

² "So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will ^(C1)each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.

³ "Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied to destruction within them;
And I will confuse their counsel,
So that ^(C1)they will seek idols and ghosts of the dead
And to ^(F1)mediums and spiritists.

⁴ "Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a ^(C1)cruel master,
And a ^(F1)strong king will rule over them," declares the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

^5 (C1)The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.

⁶ The ^(C1)rivers will emit a stench,
The ^(F1)(C2)streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
^(C3)The reeds and rushes will rot away.

⁷ The bulrushes by the ^(C1)Nile, by the ^(F1)edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.

⁸ And the ^(C1)fishermen will lament,
And all those who cast a ^(F1)line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will ^(F2)languish.

⁹ Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white ^(C1)cloth will be ashamed.

¹⁰ And ^(F1)the ^(C1)pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

¹¹ The princes of ^(F1)(C1)Zoan are merely ignorant fools;
The counsel of Pharaoh's wisest counselors has become ^(F2)senseless.
How can you men say to Pharaoh,
"I am a son of the ^(C2)wise, a son of the kings of old"?

¹² Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them ^(F1)understand what Yahweh of hosts
Has ^(C1)counseled against Egypt.

¹³ The princes of ^(F1)Zoan have acted as ignorant fools,
The princes of ^(C1)Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the ^(C2)cornerstone of her tribes
^(F2)Have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴ Yahweh has mixed within her a spirit of ^(C1)distortion;
^(C2)They have led Egypt astray in all ^(F1)that it does,
As a ^(C3)drunken man ^(F2)strays into his vomit.

¹⁵ There will be no work for Egypt
^(C1)Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.

Yahweh Will Bless Egypt, Assyria, and Israel

¹⁶ In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in ^(C1)dread because of the ^(C2)waving of the hand of Yahweh of hosts, which He is going to wave over them.¹⁷ And the land of Judah will become a ^(F1)terror to Egypt; everyone ^(F2)to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it because of the ^(C1)counsel of Yahweh of hosts which He is counseling against them.

¹⁸ In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and ^(C1)swearing allegiance to Yahweh of hosts; one will be called the City of ^(F1)Destruction.

¹⁹ In that day there will be an ^(C1)altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a ^(C2)pillar to Yahweh near its border.²⁰ And it will become a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and He will send them a ^(C1)Savior and a ^(F1)(C2)Champion, and He will deliver them.²¹ Thus Yahweh will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day. They will even worship with ^(C1)sacrifice and offering, and they will make a vow to Yahweh and pay it.²² And Yahweh will smite Egypt, smiting but ^(C1)healing; so they will ^(C2)return to Yahweh, and He will be moved by their entreaty and will heal them.

²³ In that day there will be a ^(C1)highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will ^(C2)worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,²⁵ whom Yahweh of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed is ^(C1)Egypt My people, and Assyria ^(C2)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."