1 A message about Egypt. Look, the Lord is riding on a fast-moving cloud on his way to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the Egyptians will become weak with fear. 2 I will encourage Egyptians to attack other Egyptians. They will fight each other, neighbor versus neighbor, town versus town, and kingdom versus kingdom. 3 I will destroy the confidence of the Egyptians. I will have their plans become all mixed up. They will ask their idols and the spirits of the dead what to do through mediums and spiritists. 4 I will hand the Egyptians over to a harsh dictator. A cruel king will rule over them, declares the Lord.

5 The waters of the Nile* Literally, “the waters of the sea.” will fail, and its riverbed will be sunbaked and dry. 6 The channels will start to stink; the branches of the Nile in Egypt will dry to a trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither away. 7 The vegetation along the banks of the Nile, and all the plants in the cultivated land along the Nile, will dry up and be blown away. Everything will be gone. 8 Fishermen will mourn: all of them all who use hooks to fish in the Nile will weep and wail, along with those who fish by throwing nets into the water. 9 The workers who prepare the flax for linen and the weavers of white fabric† Probably referring to cotton. will be in despair. 10 The cloth workers will be depressed, and everyone who earns a wage will feel sick inside.

11 The leaders of Zoan are stupid. Pharaoh's wise counselors give advice that doesn't make sense. How can you‡ Referring to the “wise counselors.” tell Pharaoh, “I myself am a wise man, descended from ancient kings”? 12 So where are your wise counselors? Let them tell you so you can understand what the Lord Almighty has planned to do to Egypt. 13 The leaders of Zoan have become stupid; the leaders of Memphis§ Literally, “Noph.” have been fooled; the important leaders of Egypt have misled their people. 14 The Lord has mixed up a spirit of confusion for them to drink, making the Egyptians stagger around in everything they do, like a drunk slipping up on his own vomit. 15 Nobody in Egypt can do anything, whoever they are—head or tail, palm tree or reed.* See 9:14. The palm tree was valued, reeds not so much.

16 At that time the Egyptians will become like women. They will shake with fear when the Lord Almighty raises his arm against them. 17 The land of Judah will be a source of terror to Egypt for whenever Judah is mentioned, all Egyptians will tremble over what the Lord Almighty has planned to do to them.

18 At that time there will be five cities in Egypt that speak the language of Canaan† In other words, Hebrew. and who have sworn to worship the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.‡ “City of the Sun”: or as it is called today, using the Greek equivalent, “Heliopolis.” This reading is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in one version of the Septuagint etc. The current Hebrew text reads “City of Destruction” which may be related to the destruction of sun worship in the city.

19 At that time there will be an altar to the Lord right in the middle of Egypt, and a stone monument to the Lord on its border. 20 This will be a sign and a witness to the presence of the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord for help because they are being oppressed, he will send them a savior to fight for them and to rescue them. 21 The Lord will make himself known to Egypt, and at that time Egypt will come to know the Lord. They will worship him with sacrifices and offerings; they will make promises to the Lord and keep them.

22 The Lord will inflict a plague on Egypt. He will do this, but he will heal them. They will come back to the Lord. He will respond to their prayers and heal them.

23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians will go to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

24 At that time Israel will be the third part of this alliance, joining with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing to the whole of the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt, my people, Assyria, the creation of my hands, and Israel, my special possession.”