[1] The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and cometh unto Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
[2] And I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
[3] And the spirit of Egypt shall be made void in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
[4] And I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
[5] And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
[6] And the rivers shall stink; the streams of Egypt shall be minished and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither away.
[7] The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile, shall become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
[8] The fishers also shall lament, and all they that cast angle into the Nile shall mourn, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
[9] Moreover they that work in combed flax, and they that weave white cloth, shall be ashamed.
[10] And her pillars shall be broken in pieces, all they that work for hire shall be grieved in soul.
[11] The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
[12] Where then are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now; and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed concerning Egypt.
[13] The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, that are the corner stone of her tribes.
[14] The LORD hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her: and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
[15] Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do.
[16] It In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.
[17] And the land of Judah shall become a terror unto Egypt, every one to whom mention is made thereof shall be afraid, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts, which he purposeth 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 the border thereof to the LORD.
[20] And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a defender, and he shall deliver them.
[21] And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day; yea, they shall worship with sacrifice and oblation, and shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and shall perform it.
[22] And the LORD shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return unto the LORD, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall 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] for that the LORD of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.