191 The oracle concerning Egypt . Behold , the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt ; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence , And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. 2 "So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians ; And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor , City against city and kingdom against kingdom . 3 "Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy , So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists . 4 "Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master , And a mighty king will rule over them," declares the Lord GOD of hosts . 5 The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry . 6 The canals will emit a stench , The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; The reeds and rushes will rot away . 7 The bulrushes by the Nile , by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry , be driven away , and be no more . 8 And the fishermen will lament , And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn , And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away . 9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected . 10 And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed ; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul . 11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools ; The advice of Pharaoh's wisest advisers has become stupid . How can you men say to Pharaoh , "I am a son of the wise , a son of ancient kings "? 12 Well then , where are your wise men ? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the Lord of hosts Has purposed against Egypt . 13 The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly , The princes of Memphis are deluded ; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray . 14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of distortion ; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does , As a drunken man staggers in his vomit . 15 There will be no work for Egypt Which its head or tail , its palm branch or bulrush , may do . 16 In that day the Egyptians will become like women , and they will tremble and be in dread because e of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts , which He is going to wave over them. 17 The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt ; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because e of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is purposing against them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 19:1-17
Commentary on Isaiah 19:1-17
(Read Isaiah 19:1-17)
God shall come into Egypt with his judgments. He will raise up the causes of their destruction from among themselves. When ungodly men escape danger, they are apt to think themselves secure; but evil pursues sinners, and will speedily overtake them, except they repent. The Egyptians will be given over into the hand of one who shall rule them with rigour, as was shortly after fulfilled. The Egyptians were renowned for wisdom and science; yet the Lord would give them up to their own perverse schemes, and to quarrel, till their land would be brought by their contests to become an object of contempt and pity. He renders sinners afraid of those whom they have despised and oppressed; and the Lord of hosts will make the workers of iniquity a terror to themselves, and to each other; and every object around a terror to them.