1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirit of Egypt shall fail in its midst; and I will destroy its counsel: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to those who have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master; and a fierce king shall rule over them, says the Lord, the Lord of Hosts.
5 The waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
6 The rivers shall become foul; the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither away.
7 The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, shall become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishermen shall lament, and all those who cast a hook into the Nile shall mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters shall languish.
9 Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, shall be confounded.
10 The pillars of Egypt shall be broken in pieces; all those who work for hire shall be grieved in soul.
11 The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become brutish: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
12 Where then are your wise men? And let them tell you now; and let them know what the Lord of Hosts has purposed concerning Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the cornerstone of her tribes.
14 The Lord has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in its every work, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do.
16 In that day shall the Egyptians be like women; and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of Hosts, which he shakes over them.
17 The land of Judah shall become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom mention is made of it shall be afraid, because of the purpose of the Lord of Hosts, which he purposes against it.
18 In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction.
19 In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to the Lord.
20 It shall be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and he will send them a savior, and a defender, and he will deliver them.
21 The Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day; yes, they shall worship with sacrifice and offering, and shall vow a vow to the Lord, and shall perform it.
22 The Lord will strike Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return to the Lord, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them.
23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;
25 because the Lord of Hosts has blessed them, saying, blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.