1I received this message from Yahweh about Egypt:
2I will cause the people of Egypt to fight against each other:
3The people of Egypt will become very discouraged,
4Then I will enable someone who will treat them very cruelly to become their king [DOU].”
5Some day the water in the Nile River will dry up,
6The branches of the river will all dry up [DOU]
7All the plants along the river and all the crops will dry up;
8The fishermen will throw into the river lines with hooks on them and nets,
9Those who weave cloth from flax will not know what to do,
10They will all despair
11The officials in Zoan city in northern Egypt are foolish.
12King, ◄where are your wise counselors now?/You have no wise counselors now!► [RHQ]
13Yes, the officials of Zoan have become foolish,
14Yahweh has caused them to be very foolish,
15There is no one in Egypt, rich or poor, important or unimportant, who will be able to help them.
16At that time, the people of Egypt will be as helpless as [SIM] women. They will tremble, being terrified because they know that the Commander of the armies of angels has raised his fist, ready to strike/punish them.
17The people of Egypt will be afraid of the people of Judah, and anyone who mentions Judah to them will cause them to be terrified, because that will remind them of what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels, is planning to do to them.
18At that time, people in five cities in Egypt will solemnly declare that they will serve Yahweh. They will learn to speak the Hebrew language. One of those cities will be called ‘City of the Sun’.
19At that time, there will be an altar for worshiping Yahweh in the center of Egypt, and there will be a ◄pillar/large rock► to honor Yahweh at the border between Egypt and Israel.
20That will be a sign to indicate that the Commander of the armies of angels is worshiped in the land of Egypt. And when the people cry out to Yahweh to help them because others are ◄oppressing them/causing them to suffer►, he will send to them someone who will defend and rescue them.
21Yahweh will enable the people of Egypt to know who he is, and at that time they will have a close relationship with Yahweh and worship him and bring to him offerings of grain and other sacrifices. They will solemnly promise to do things for Yahweh, and they will do what they promise.
22After Yahweh has punished Egypt, he will cause their troubles to end. The people of Egypt will turn to Yahweh, and he will listen when they plead to him for help, and he will cause their troubles to cease.
23At that time, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. As a result, the people of Egypt will be able to travel easily to Assyria, and the people of Assyria will be able to travel easily to Egypt. And the people of both countries will worship Yahweh.
24And Israel will be their ally. All three nations will be friendly to each other, and the people of Israel will be a blessing to the people of the entire world.
25The Commander of the armies of angels will bless them, saying, “You people of Egypt are now my people. You people of Assyria, I have established your country. You people of Israel are the people whom I have chosen to belong to me.”