Isaiah 19-21

From today's Bible reading:

Isaiah 19:

An oracle concerning Egypt.

Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

I will confound their counsel

The fishermen will mourn and lament,
all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
who spread nets on the water.

The workers in combed flax will be in despair,
and the weavers of white cotton.

Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed,
and all who work for pay will be grieved.

The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish;
the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.

And there will be nothing for Egypt
that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them.

And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians.

Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the LORD of hosts has purposed against them.

In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt.

When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.

And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

(Open borders.)

In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.

Isaiah 20:

In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it—at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet, and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

Then the LORD said, As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt.

Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?

Isaiah 21:

The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrible land.

A stern vision is told to me;
the traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.

For thus the Lord said to me:

Go, set a watchman;
let him announce what he sees.
When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently.

Then he who saw cried out:

Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.
And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!

And he answered,

Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
and all the carved images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.

O my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.

The oracle concerning Dumah.

One is calling to me from Seir,

Watchman, what time of the night?
Watchman, what time of the night?

The watchman says:

Morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again.

The oracle concerning Arabia.

In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
O caravans of Dedanites.

To the thirsty bring water;
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema.

For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.

For thus the Lord said to me, Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.