Isaiah 19:3 - Printer Friendly

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;

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.

NASB: Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confuse their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead, And to mediums and spiritists.

CSB: Egypt's spirit will be disturbed within it, and I will frustrate its plans. Then they will inquire of worthless idols, ghosts, mediums, and spiritists.

NLT: The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will confuse their plans. They will plead with their idols for wisdom and call on spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead.

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.

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.

Egypt will be subject to the Lord's judgment (Isaiah 19:1–2). When the foundations of a society become unstable, people lose hope and fall into despair. Isaiah describes this nation-wide depression in Egypt as the spirit of the Egyptians being emptied out. This is something like how a tree collapses when the trunk rots away. Or, how a sack deflates as it empties. Egyptian confidence and hope would wither, and their core foundations would crumble.

Another part of the Lord's judgment against Egypt will be to demolish both their wisdom and their reputation. In other words, every suggestion about how to resolve the divisions among the people and the resulting chaos will be shown as worthless. Everyone will sense that no solutions are possible. They will be utterly stripped of their hope.

In response to this despair, the Egyptians will double down on their worship of idols. Surrounded by worthless human counselors, they will look for answers from sorcerers, mediums, and necromancers. They will once more place their hope in hearing from the spirits of the dead and the gods they serve. Just as He did during the exodus (Exodus 3:20), the God of Israel will once more show Himself to be far more powerful than the empty gods of the Egyptians.

Isaiah 19:1–15 is an oracle against the nation of Egypt. Isaiah describes the Lord, not Egypt's imaginary god Baal, as arriving on a swift cloud to judge the nation. The hearts of the people will melt, and their spirits will be emptied out. They will turn on each other. Neither their gods nor their wise men will be able to save them. Even the Nile River will dry up. Yet, in the kingdom of the Messiah, Egypt will turn to the Lord and be blessed by Him.

Isaiah's oracle describes the Lord's coming judgment on Egypt. The idols will fear when God arrives, and the people will turn on each other. A fierce king will conquer them. The Nile River will dry up, leaving many destitute. The advisors serving Egypt's leaders will be revealed as confused fools. Far in the future, Egypt will recognize Israel's God and repent, turning to worship the Lord. Assyria will join in that worship, blessing the earth along with Egypt and Israel.

Isaiah 19 introduces the next oracle against the nations of the earth. The Lord has been showing His people not to put their trust and hope in the foreign nations or their gods. They are to trust in Him alone to save them. The Lord's arrival in Egypt reveals the worthlessness of idols and spiritists. The terrified people will turn on each other. They will become destitute when the Nile dries up and the wise are shown to be foolish. In the far future, Egypt will worship the Lord and be blessed by Him.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).