Isaiah 19:5

The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Isaiah pronounces judgment on Egypt, declaring that Yahweh will hand the nation over to a harsh ruler and fierce king before describing the ecological collapse that will accompany it.

The words — The Hebrew verbs נִשְּׁתוּ (nishshetu) and יָבֵשׁ (yavesh) literally mean "they will be dried up" and "it will be dry," while יֶחֱרַב (yeḥerav) conveys "it will become desolate or parched."

The thread — This motif of divine water removal appears in Jeremiah 51:36, Ezekiel 30:12, and Zechariah 14:18, where God similarly threatens to dry up streams or withhold rain as an instrument of judgment.

Why it lands — The text reports the literal destruction of Egypt’s life source to demonstrate that political and natural stability depend entirely on Yahweh’s sovereign will.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְנִשְּׁתוּ־ve./ni.she.tu-and/ they will be dried up מַ֖יִםMa.yimwaters מֵֽהַיָּ֑םme./hai./Yamfrom/ the/ sea וְנָהָ֖רve./na.Harand/ a river יֶחֱרַ֥בye.che.Ravit will become dry וְיָבֵֽשׁ׃ve./ya.Veshand/ it will be dry

King James Version

And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 51:36 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.
Ezekiel 30:12 I will make the streams dry up and sell the land to the wicked. By the hands of foreigners I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it. I, the LORD, have spoken.
Zechariah 14:18 And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter in, then the rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Zechariah 10:11 They will pass through the sea of distress and strike the waves of the sea; all the depths of the Nile will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will depart.