Isaiah 19:3

Isaiah 19:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
• New International Version (NIV)The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.
• English Standard Version (ESV)and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers;
• New King James Version (NKJV)The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers.

Context of Isaiah 19:3

1This is a message about Egypt. Look! The Lord is coming to Egypt! He is riding quickly on a cloud and he will soon arrive! The idols of Egypt will shake with fear when he comes. All the people in Egypt will be very afraid. 2‘I will cause Egypt's people to fight against each other. People will fight against their own family. They will fight against their neighbours. Cities and kingdoms will fight against each other. The Egyptians will become afraid, so that they do not know what to do. They will ask for help from their idols. They will ask the spirits of dead people to tell them what to do. They will ask magicians to talk to those spirits on their behalf. 4I will cause a cruel master to have power over Egypt. A powerful king will rule over its people.’ That is what the Lord, the Almighty Lord. 5The water of the sea will become dry. The Nile river will also become dry and it will have no water in it.

Isaiah 19:3 word by word

וְנָבְקָ֤ה רֽוּחַ־מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ בְּקִרְבּ֔וֹ וַעֲצָת֖וֹ אֲבַלֵּ֑עַ וְדָרְשׁ֤וּ אֶל־הָֽאֱלִילִים֙ וְאֶל־הָ֣אִטִּ֔ים וְאֶל־הָאֹב֖וֹת וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
• of Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
• shall failבָּקַקbâqaq · to emptyH1238
• in the midstקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
• thereof; and I will destroyבָּלַעbâla‛ · to swallow upH1104
• the counselעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
• thereof: and they shall seekדָּרַשׁdârash · to seekH1875
• to the idolsאֱלִיל'ĕlîyl · idolH457
• and to the charmersאִטִּי'aţ · muttererH328
• and to them that have familiar spiritsאוֹב'ôb · mediumH178
• and to the wizardsיִדְּעֹנִיyidde‛ônîy · spiritistH3049

Cross-references for Isaiah 19:3

• Isaiah 19:1This is a message about Egypt. Look! The Lord is coming to Egypt! He is riding quickly on a cloud and he will soon arrive! The idols of Egypt will shake with fear when he comes. All the people in Egypt will be very afraid.
• Isaiah 57:16I will not always speak against my people. I will not be angry with them for ever. I do not want them to lose hope completely. I myself gave life to them.
• 1 Samuel 25:37The next morning, Nabal was no longer drunk. So Abigail told him about everything that she had done. Nabal's heart failed. His body became like a stone.
• Psalms 76:12He makes proud rulers become humble. All the kings of the world should be afraid of him.
• Jeremiah 46:15Your brave soldiers will fall. They will lie flat on the ground. They cannot stand and fight because the Lord will knock them down.
• Ezekiel 21:7They will ask you, “Why are you so sad?” Then you will say, “I am sad because of the news that will soon come. Every one of you will be very afraid. Your hands will be weak and your knees will shake.” You can be sure that this will happen very soon. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’
• Ezekiel 22:14When I have punished you, you will no longer feel brave or strong. I, the Lord, have said what I will do. And I will do it.
• Isaiah 14:27Yes, the Lord Almighty has decided what he will do. Nobody can change it. He is ready to show his power. Nobody can stop it.
• 2 Samuel 15:31Someone told David that his advisor, Ahithophel, had now joined with Absalom and his men. So David prayed, ‘Lord, please cause Ahithophel to give them foolish advice.’
• 2 Samuel 17:14Absalom and all Israel's leaders said, ‘Hushai's idea is better than Ahithophel's idea.’ This happened because the Lord did not let the people accept Ahithophel's advice. His idea was a good one, but the Lord had decided to cause trouble for Absalom.
• 2 Chronicles 25:16While the prophet was still speaking, the king said to him, ‘We did not choose you to be the king's advisor! If you do not stop speaking, my men will kill you.’ So the prophet stopped. But then he said, ‘I know what God has decided to do. He will destroy you because you have done these bad things and you have not listened to my advice.’
• Job 5:12He stops the ideas of clever people. They cannot do what they want to do.
• Proverbs 21:30There is no wisdom, no knowledge and no advice that can win against the Lord.
• 1 Corinthians 3:19People in this world think that some people are wise. But God thinks that those wise people are fools. It says in the Bible: ‘God causes the clever thoughts of wise people to confuse them.’
• Psalms 107:27Like drunk people, they could not stand or walk properly. They did not know what to do!
• Isaiah 8:19They will say to you, ‘Go to the people who speak to the spirits of dead people. Go to the magicians who speak magic words. They will tell you what you should do. People should ask their gods and spirits to give them messages. People who are alive should ask the spirits of dead people to help them.’

Commentaries on Isaiah 19:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3They shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards - And thei schul asken their symulacres, and their debynouris, and their devyl clepers, and their devyl sacristers. - Old Bible. The import of the original words has already been given where they occur in the Pentateuch. See Deuteronomy 18:10, etc.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3And the spirit of Egypt - (see Isaiah 19:1). They shall be exhausted with their long internal contentions and strifes; and seeing no prospect of deliverance, and anxious that the turmoils should end, they shall seek counsel and refuge in their gods and necromancers, but in vain. Shall fail - (נבקה nâbeqâh ). Margin, Be emptied.‘ The word means, literally, “to pour out, empty, depopulate.” Here it means that they would become disheartened and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3People called upon idols, spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead to try to prevent destruction (see Isaiah 8:19–22; 47:12–13).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. spirit--wisdom, for which Egypt was famed (Is 31:2; 1Ki 4:30; Ac 7:22); answering to "counsel" in the parallel clause. fail--literally, "be poured out," that is, be made void (Jr 19:7). They shall "seek" help from sources that can afford none, "charmers," &c. (Is 8:19). charmers--literally, "those making a faint sound"; the soothsayers imitated the faint sound which was attributed to the spirits of the dead (see on Is 8:19).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 19:3

• Charmers and Charming
• Familiar Spirits
• Sorcery
• War

In the dictionaries

• Egypt
• Egypt, Egyptian
• Charmer
• Idol
• Wizard
• Communion With Demons; Devils
• Divination
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Familiar

Commentaries on Isaiah 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings