Isaiah 19:2-16

2I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians; each will fight against his brother and each against his friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it, and I will frustrate its plans. Then they will inquire of worthless idols, ghosts, mediums, and spiritists.

4I will hand over Egypt to harsh masters, and a strong king will rule it. This is the declaration of the Lord God of Armies.

5The water of the sea will dry up, and the river will be parched and dry.

6The channels will stink; they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched. Reed and rush will wilt.

7The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the cultivated areas of the Nile will wither, blow away, and vanish.

8Then the fishermen will mourn. All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the water will give up.

9Those who work with flax will be dismayed; those combing it and weaving linen will turn pale.

10Egypt’s weavers will be dejected; all her wage earners will be demoralized.

11The princes of Zoan are complete fools; Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice! How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a student of eastern kings”?

12Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you and reveal what the Lord of Armies has planned against Egypt.

13The princes of Zoan have been fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.

14The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of confusion. The leaders have made Egypt stagger in all she does, as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.

15No head or tail, palm or reed, will be able to do anything for Egypt.

16On that day Egypt will be like women and will tremble with fear because of the threatening hand of the Lord of Armies when he raises it against them.