UNROLL
Dawn on the Nile near Memphis: the broad brown river, palms and flat green fields, a stone temple with plain pylons on the bank, and one dark, fast, low cloud coming in over the river.

The nations judged

Isaiah 19

Egypt trusted its river and its wise men. What would you have left if both failed?

25 verses≈ 5 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–5Zion on trialJudah’s sin, the mountain raised, the vineyard’s song
  2. 6Holy, holy, holyIsaiah’s call, in the year King Uzziah died (about 740 BC)
  3. 7–12ImmanuelAhaz’s fear, the sign, the Child, the shoot of Jesse
  4. 13–23The nations judgedBabylon to Tyre: the LORD is Judge of all the earthChapter 19
  5. 24–27The whole earthThe earth laid waste, and death swallowed up
  6. 28–35Woe and a KingEgypt’s help or the LORD’s, and the King in His beauty
  7. 36–39Hezekiah’s crisisSennacherib, 701 BC: the prayer, the sickness, the envoys
  8. 40–48Comfort My peopleTo the exiles ahead: Cyrus, the idols, the Servant
  9. 49–55The Servant and ZionPierced for our transgressions; Zion restored
  10. 56–66New heavens and earthA house of prayer, the Anointed One, all things new

The Burden against Egypt

Isaiah
Storm light in a stone temple court by the Nile: a row of carved stone god figures on a plinth, one tilted and cracked, dust shaking down, a black storm cloud filling the sky beyond the pylon.

This is the burden against Egypt:

Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud;

He is coming to Egypt.

The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him,

and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.

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God

“So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian;

brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor,

city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

God

Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them,

and I will frustrate their plans,

so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead,

to mediums and spiritists.

God

I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of a harsh master,

and a fierce king will rule over them,”

declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

Isaiah
Isaiah

The waters of the Nile will dry up,

and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

Isaiah

The canals will stink;

the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up;

the reeds and rushes will wither.

Isaiah

The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more.

Isaiah

Question

Quick question

Egypt was famous for its wise counselors. Read verses 11–12 below with this in mind.

Why will Egypt’s wisdom fail?

Isaiah

The princes of Zoan are mere fools;

Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the wise,

a son of eastern kings”?

Isaiah

Where are your wise men now?

Let them tell you and reveal

what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.

Isaiah

The princes of Zoan have become fools;

the princes of Memphis are deceived.

The cornerstones of her tribes

have led Egypt astray.

Isaiah

The LORD has poured into her

a spirit of confusion.

Egypt has been led astray in all she does,

as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.

Isaiah

There is nothing Egypt can do—

head or tail, palm or reed.

A Blessing upon the Earth

Isaiah

In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.

Isaiah

The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble over what the LORD of Hosts has planned against it.

Isaiah

In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.

Isaiah
Early morning in the flat green fields of the Nile: a plain square altar of uncut fieldstones among palms with a thin column of smoke rising straight, and far off at the desert’s edge a single plain standing stone.

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near her border.

Isaiah

It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them.

Isaiah

The LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and on that day Egypt will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and fulfill them.

Isaiah

And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.

Isaiah
Morning on a raised road running straight across green fields toward far hills: small groups of travelers walking it together, Egyptians in white linen beside Assyrians in long fringed robes and curled beards, donkeys with packs.

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

Isaiah

In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth.

God

The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”

Isaiah 19:25

Pray

Pray

LORD of Hosts, You strike and You heal. Make me a blessing upon the earth, one of Your people gathered from every nation. Amen.

You’ve experienced

Isaiah 19

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A verse to carry with you

The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”

Isaiah 19:25

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