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An 1oracle concerning 2Egypt. Behold, the LORD 3 is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and 4the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will 5melt within them.
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And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, 6and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
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and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their 7counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and 8the mediums and the necromancers;
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and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of 9a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
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And the waters of the sea will be dried up, and the river will be dry and parched,
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and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away.
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There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched, will be driven away, and will be no more.
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The 10fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast a hook in the Nile; and they will languish who spread nets on the water.
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The workers in 11combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton.
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Those who are the 12pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who 13work for pay will be grieved.
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The princes of 14Zoan are utterly foolish; the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings"?
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Where then are your 15wise men? Let them tell you that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
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The princes of 16Zoan have become fools, and the princes of 17Memphis are deluded; those who are the 18cornerstones of her tribes have made Egypt stagger.
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The LORD has mingled within her 19a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, 20as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
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And there will be nothing for Egypt that 21head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.