1. Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a light cloud, and cometh to Egypt;
and the idols of Egypt shake before Him, and the heart of Egypt
melteth within it. 2. And I spur Egypt against Egypt: and they go to
war, every one with his brother, and every one with his neighbour;
city against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3. And the spirit of
Egypt is emptied out within it: and I swallow up its ready counsel;
and they go to the idols to inquire, and to the mutterers, and to the
oracle-spirits, and to the soothsayers. 4. And I shut up Egypt in the
head of a hard rule; and a fierce king will rule over them, saith the
Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
5. And the waters will dry up from the sea, and the river is parched
and dried. 6. And the arms of the river spread a stench; the channels
of Matzor become shallow and parched: reed and rush shrivel up.
7. The meadow by the Nile, on the border of the Nile, and every
cornfield of the Nile, dries up, is scattered, and disappears. 8. And
the fishermen groan, and all who throw draw-nets into the Nile
lament, and they that spread out the net upon the face of the waters
languish away. 9. And the workers of fine combed flax are confounded,
and the weavers of cotton fabrics. 10. And the pillars of the land
are ground to powder; all that work for wages are troubled in mind.
11. The princes of Zoan become mere fools, the wise counsellors of
Pharaoh; readiness in counsel is stupefied. How can ye say to
Pharaoh, I am a son of wise men, a son of kings of the olden time?
12. Where are they then, thy wise men? Let them announce to thee, and
know what Jehovah of hosts hath determined concerning Egypt. 13. The
princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Memphis are
deceived; and they have led Egypt astray who are the corner-stone of
its castes. 14. Jehovah hath poured a spirit of giddiness into the
heart of Egypt, so that they have led Egypt astray in all its doing,
as a drunken man wandereth about in his vomit. 15. And there does not
occur of Egypt any work which worked, of head and tail, palm-branch
and rush.
16. In that day will the Egyptians become like women, and tremble and
be alarmed at the swinging of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which He
sets in motion against it. 17. And the land of Judah becomes a
shuddering for Egypt; as often as they mention this against Egypt, it
is alarmed, because of the decree of Jehovah of hosts, that He
suspendeth over it.
18. In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt
speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing to Jehovah of hosts:
'Ir ha-Heres will one be called. 19. In that day there stands an
altar consecrated to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and
an obelisk near the border of the land consecrated to Jehovah.
20. And a sign and a witness for Jehovah of hosts is this in the land
of Egypt; when they cry to Jehovah for oppressors, He will send them
a helper and champion, and deliver them. 21. And Jehovah makes
Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians know Jehovah in
that day; and they serve Him with slain-offerings and meat-offerings,
and vow vows to Jehovah, and pay them. 22. And Jehovah smites Egypt,
smiting and healing; and if they return to Jehovah, He suffers
Himself to be entreated, and heals them. 23. In that day a road will
run from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur comes into Egypt, and Egypt to
Asshur; and Egypt worships (Jehovah) with Asshur. 24. In that day
will Israel be a third part to Egypt and Asshur, a blessing in the
midst of the earth, 25. since Jehovah of hosts blesseth them thus:
Blessed be thou, My people Egypt; and thou, Asshur, the work of My
hands; and thou Israel, Mine inheritance.
SYMBOL OF THE FALL OF EGYPT AND
ETHIOPIA, AND ITS INTERPRETATION.--CHAP. XX.
1. In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, Sargon the king of Asshur
having sent him (and he made war against Ashdod, and captured it):
2. at that time Jehovah spake through Yesha'-yahu, the son of Amoz,
as follows, Go and loosen the smock-front from off thy loins, and
take off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went stripped
and barefooted.
3. And Jehovah said, As my servant Yesha'-yahu goeth naked and
barefooted, a sign and a type for three years long over Egypt and
over Ethiopia, 4. so will the king of Asshur carry away the prisoners
of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, children and old men, naked and
barefooted, and with their seat uncovered--a shame to Egypt.
5. And they cry together, and behold themselves deceived by Ethiopia,
to which they looked and by Egypt, in which they gloried. 6. And the
inhabitant of this coast-land saith in that day, Behold, thus it
happens to those to whom we looked, whither we fled for help to
deliver us from the king of Asshur: and how should we, we escape?
THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE DESERT
OF THE SEA (BABYLON).--CHAP. XXI. 1-10.
1. As storms in the south approach, it comes from the desert, from a
terrible land. 2. Hard vision is made known to me: the spoiler
spoils, and the devastator devastates. Go up, Elam! Surround, Moday!
I put an end to all their sighing. 3. Therefore are my loins full of
cramp: pangs have taken hold of me, as the pangs of a travailing
woman: I twist myself, so that I do not hear; I am brought down with
fear, so that I do not see. 4. My heart beats wildly; horror hath
troubled me; the darkness of night that I love, He hath turned for me
into quaking.
5. They cover the table, watch the watch, eat, drink. Rise up, ye
princes! Anoint the shield! 6. For thus saith the Lord to me, Go, set
a spy; what he seeth, let him declare. 7. And he saw a procession of
cavalry, pairs of horsemen, a procession of asses, a procession of
camels; and listened sharply, as sharply as he could listen. 8. Then
he cried with a lion's voice, Upon the watch-tower, O Lord, I stand
continually by day, and upon my watch I keep my stand all the nights.
9. And, behold, there came a cavalcade of men, pairs of horsemen, and
lifted up its voice, and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the
images of its gods He hath dashed to the ground! 10. O thou my
threshing, and child of my threshing-floor! What I have heard from
Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.
THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE SILENCE
OF DEATH (EDOM).--CHAP. XXI. 11, 12.
11. A cry comes to me out of Seir: Watchman, how far is it in the
night? Watchman, how far in the night? 12. Watchman says, Morning
cometh, and also night. Will ye inquire, inquire! Turn, come!