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Isaiah 20:3
ESV Then the Lord said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,
NIV Then the Lord said, "Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush,
NASB Then the Lord said, 'Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and symbol against Egypt and Cush,
CSB the Lord said, "As my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,
NLT Then the Lord said, 'My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign — a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.
KJV And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
NKJV Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia,

What does Isaiah 20:3 mean?

The sequence of events in Isaiah 20 seems to be as follows: The Lord tells Isaiah to walk around stripped of his shoes and outer garments (Isaiah 20:2). Three years later, the Assyrians defeated the Philistine city of Ashdod. Ashdod had made an alliance with Egypt against the Assyrians. But when that attack came from Assyria, Egypt did not help (Isaiah 20:4–5).

Now the Lord reveals the point of Isaiah's humiliating exposure. His physical appearance was a symbol against Egypt and Cush. A "sign and portent" is a prophecy about something big that is going to happen, usually something momentous and tremendously negative. In this case, the fulfillment of that sign would show that God was right. And a further sign that Judah should not rely on Egypt to save them from the Assyrians.

Cush, sometimes called Nubia, was south of Egypt. It was also known as Ethiopia, though this is not the same nation as modern-day Ethiopia. An Ethiopian dynasty ruled Egypt at this time. Cush and Egypt would suffer the same fate together at the hands of the Assyrians.
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