¹The burden of Egypt.

“Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud,

And is coming to Egypt.

Then the idols of Egypt will reel at his presence,

And Egypt's heart will melt inside it.

²And I will incite Egypt against Egypt,

And a man will fight his brother,

And a man his neighbour,

And a city a city,

And a kingdom a kingdom.

³And the spirit of Egypt will drain away inside them,

And I will overthrow their counsel,

And they will seek the idols and the necromancers,

And the soothsayers and the wizards.

⁴And I will deliver Egypt up into the hand of a harsh master,

And a fierce king will rule over them,

Says the Lord,

The Lord of hosts.

⁵And the waters of the sea will dry up,

And the river will become parched and arid.

⁶And the rivers will stink,

And the canals for fortifications will run low and will dry up;

The reed and the sedge will wither.

⁷The pastures by the river

And in the river estuary,

And every crop dependent on the river

Will dry up and be driven about,

And it will be gone.

⁸And the fishermen will sigh and mourn;

All who cast a hook into the river,

And those who stretch a net over the water

Will languish.

⁹And the workers in combed flax will be at a loss,

As will the weavers of white linen.

¹⁰And its foundations will be broken in pieces

– All who earn wages from lakes

Harbouring aquatic life.

¹¹What fools the officials of Zoan are

– The wise men who give Pharaoh dim-witted advice!

How can you say to Pharaoh,

‘I am a son of the wise;

I am a son of the eastern kings’?

¹²Where are they?

Where are your wise men?

And may they tell you, and may they discern

What the Lord of hosts has decreed

Concerning Egypt.

¹³The officials of Zoan have become foolish;

The officials of Noph have been deceived.

They – the elite of its tribes –

Have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The Lord has infused a spirit of misdirection in its precincts,

And they have led Egypt astray in all its dealings,

As a drunk strays off in his vomit.

¹⁵And Egypt will not have any work,

Which the head or tail,

Palm-branch or bulrush

Might do.

¹⁶On that day, Egypt will be like women, and it will tremble and be fearful of the Lord of hosts raising his hand which he raises over them. ¹⁷And the land of Judah will be an object of dread to Egypt. Everyone who mentions it will fear for himself, because of the decision of the Lord of hosts which he has taken concerning it. ¹⁸On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and who swear to the Lord of hosts. One will be called the City of Destruction. ¹⁹On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. ²⁰And it will be as a sign and a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt, for they will cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, and he will send them a saviour who will be great and who will save them. ²¹And the Lord will be known to Egypt, and Egypt will know the Lord on that day, and they will make sacrifices and meal-offerings, and they will make vows to the Lord and fulfil them. ²²And the Lord will strike Egypt – strike and heal – and they will return to the Lord, and he will accede to their entreaty and heal them. ²³On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come to Egypt, and Egypt to Assyria, and Egypt will serve with Assyria. ²⁴On that day, Israel will be a joint third with Egypt and Assyria, as a blessing in the middle of the land, ²⁵because the Lord of hosts will bless it and say, ‘Blessed is my people Egypt, and the work of my hands Assyria, and my inheritance Israel.’ ”

Reference(s) in Chapter 19: v.2 ↔ Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8, Luke 21:10.