Study Desk

The ^(C1)pronouncement concerning ^(C2)Egypt: Behold, the LORD is ^(C3)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The ^(C4)idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the ^(C5)heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

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

-"Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confuse their strategy, So that ^(C1)they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead, And to ^(F1)mediums and spiritists.

-"Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a ^(C1)cruel master, And a ^(F1)mighty king will rule over them," declares the Lord ^(F2)GOD of armies.

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

The ^(F1)(C1)canals will emit a stench, The ^(F2)(C2)streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; ^(C3)The reeds and rushes will rot away.

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.

And the ^(C1)fishermen will grieve, And all those who cast a ^(F1)line into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will dwindle away.

Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white ^(C1)cloth will be ^(F1)utterly dejected.

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

The officials of ^(F1)(C1)Zoan are mere fools; The advice of Pharaoh's wisest advisers has become ^(F2)stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the ^(C2)wise, a son of ancient kings"?

Well then, where are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them ^(F1)understand what the LORD of armies Has ^(C1)planned against Egypt.

The officials of ^(F1)Zoan have turned out to be fools, The officials of ^(C1)Memphis are deluded; Those who are the ^(C2)cornerstone of her tribes Have ^(F2)led Egypt astray.

The LORD 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 person ^(F2)staggers in his vomit.

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

On that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in great ^(C1)fear because of the ^(C2)waving of the hand of the LORD of armies, which He is going to wave over them.

The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the ^(C1)plan of the LORD of armies which He is making against them.

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

On that day there will be an ^(C1)altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a ^(C2)memorial stone to the LORD beside its border.

And it will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry out to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a ^(C1)Savior and a ^(C2)Champion, and He will save them.

So the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD on that day. They will even worship with ^(C1)sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it.

And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking but ^(C1)healing; so they will ^(C2)return to the LORD, and He will respond to their pleas and heal them.

On that day there will be a ^(C1)road 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.

On that day Israel will be the third party to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,

whom the LORD of armies has blessed, saying, "Blessed is ^(C1)Egypt My people, and Assyria ^(C2)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."

In the year that the ^(F1)(C1)commander came to ^(C2)Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it,

at that time the LORD spoke through ^(C1)Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go and loosen the ^(C2)sackcloth from your hips and take your ^(C3)sandals off your feet." And he did so, going ^(C4)naked and barefoot.

Then the LORD said, "Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a ^(C1)sign and symbol against Egypt and ^(F1)(C2)Cush,

so the ^(C1)king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, ^(C2)young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the ^(F1)shame of Egypt.

"Then they will be ^(C1)terrified and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their ^(C2)pride.

"So the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, 'Behold, such is our hope, where we fled ^(C1)for help to be saved from the king of Assyria; and ^(C2)how are we ourselves to escape?'"

The ^(C1)pronouncement concerning the ^(F1)(C2)wilderness of the sea: As ^(C3)windstorms in the ^(F2)Negev come in turns, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.

A ^(C1)harsh vision has been shown to me; The ^(C2)treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, ^(C3)Elam, lay siege, Media; I have put an end to all ^(F1)the groaning she has caused.

For this reason my ^(C1)loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a ^(C2)woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.

My ^(F1)mind reels, ^(F2)horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been ^(C1)turned into trembling for me.

They ^(C1)set the table, they ^(F1)spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; "Rise up, captains, oil the shields!"

For this is what the Lord says to me: "Go, station the lookout, have him ^(C1)report what he sees.

-"When he sees ^(F1)a ^(C1)column of chariots, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, He is to pay close attention, very close attention."

Then ^(F1)the lookout called, "^(C1)Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

-"Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs." And one said, "^(C1)Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the ^(C2)images of her gods ^(F1)are shattered on the ground."

My ^(C1)downtrodden people, and my ^(F1)afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the LORD of armies, The God of Israel, I make known to you.

The pronouncement concerning ^(F1)(C1)Edom: One keeps calling to me from ^(C2)Seir, "Watchman, ^(F2)how far gone is the night? Watchman, ^(F2)how far gone is the night?"

The watchman says, "Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again."

The pronouncement about ^(C1)Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you ^(F1)must spend the night, You caravans of ^(C2)Dedanites.

Bring water ^(F1)for the thirsty, You inhabitants of the land of ^(C1)Tema; Meet the fugitive with bread.

For they have ^(C1)fled from the swords, From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, And from the press of battle.

For this is what the Lord said to me: "In a ^(C1)year, as ^(F1)a hired worker would count it, all the splendor of ^(C2)Kedar will come to an end;

and the ^(C1)remainder of the number of bowmen, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD God of Israel ^(C2)has spoken."