ISAIAH 17-20

¹ And it will become a heap of ruins.

² With no one to make them afraid.

³ Will be like the glory of the Israelites,” declares Jehovah of armies.

⁴ And his healthy body will grow thin.

⁵ Like when one gleans grain in the Valley of Rephʹa·im.

⁶ Only four or five on its fruit-bearing branches,” declares Jehovah the God of Israel.

⁷ In that day man will look up to his Maker, and his eyes will gaze at the Holy One of Israel.

⁸ He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; and he will not gaze at what his fingers have made, either the sacred poles or the incense stands.

⁹ It will become a wasteland.

¹⁰ And set it with the shoot of a stranger.

¹¹ But the harvest will vanish in the day of disease and incurable pain.

¹² Whose sound is like the roar of mighty waters!

¹³ Like a whirling thistle before a storm wind.

¹⁴ And the lot of those plundering us.

¹ In the region of the rivers of E·thi·oʹpi·a!

² Whose land is washed away by rivers.”

³ And you will hear a sound like the blowing of a horn.

⁴ Like the cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

⁵ And the tendrils will be lopped off and removed.

⁶ And all the beasts of the earth will spend the harvesttime on them.

⁷ To the place that bears the name of Jehovah of armies, Mount Zion.”

¹ And the heart of Egypt will melt within it.

² City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³ To the charmers and to the spirit mediums and to the fortune-tellers.

⁴ And a harsh king will rule over them,” declares the true Lord, Jehovah of armies.

⁵ And the river will become parched and run dry.

⁶ The reeds and the rushes will decay.

⁷ It will be blown away, and it will be no more.

⁸ And those who spread their nets on the water will dwindle.

⁹ And those making white fabric on the loom will be put to shame.

¹⁰ All the hired workers will grieve.

¹¹ A descendant of ancient kings”?

¹² Let them tell you if they know what Jehovah of armies has decided concerning Egypt.

¹³ The chiefs of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴ Like a drunk staggering in his vomit.

¹⁵ Whether for the head or the tail, the shoot or the rush.

¹⁶ In that day Egypt will become like women, trembling and terrified because of the threatening hand that Jehovah of armies raises against it.

¹⁷ And the land of Judah will become a cause for terror to Egypt. They will feel dread at the mention of it because of the decision that Jehovah of armies has made against them.

¹⁸ In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Caʹnaan and swearing loyalty to Jehovah of armies. One city will be called The City of Tearing Down.

¹⁹ In that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the middle of the land of Egypt and a pillar to Jehovah at its boundary.

²⁰ It will be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry out to Jehovah because of the oppressors, and he will send them a savior, a grand one, who will save them.

²¹ And Jehovah will become known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know Jehovah in that day, and they will offer sacrifices and gifts and make a vow to Jehovah and pay it.

²² Jehovah will strike Egypt, striking and healing it; and they will return to Jehovah, and he will respond to their entreaties and heal them.

²³ In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to As·syrʹi·a. Then As·syrʹi·a will come into Egypt, and Egypt into As·syrʹi·a, and Egypt will serve God together with As·syrʹi·a.

²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third along with Egypt and with As·syrʹi·a, a blessing in the midst of the earth,

²⁵ for Jehovah of armies will have blessed it, saying: “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, As·syrʹi·a, and my inheritance, Israel.”

¹ In the year that King Sarʹgon of As·syrʹi·a sent the Tarʹtan to Ashʹdod, he fought against Ashʹdod and captured it.

² At that time Jehovah spoke through Isaiah the son of Aʹmoz, saying: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your hips, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking about naked and barefoot.

³ Jehovah then said: “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked about naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and E·thi·oʹpi·a,

⁴ so the king of As·syrʹi·a will lead the captives of Egypt and the exiles of E·thi·oʹpi·a, boys and old men, naked and barefoot and with exposed buttocks, the nakedness of Egypt.

⁵ And they will be terrified and will be ashamed of E·thi·oʹpi·a their hope and of Egypt their pride.

⁶ The inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Look at what happened to our hope, to which we fled for help and rescue from the king of As·syrʹi·a! How will we escape now?’”