Isaiah 13 began a section called the "burdens". These are predominantly prophecies given against various nations, all of whom were at one time enemies of God’s people.

They are called "burdens" because they carry heavy, serious warnings.

While Egypt in Isaiah’s day was ruled by an Ethiopian monarchy, eventually the Ethiopians pulled back to the south ("Upper Egypt"), while the northern part was ruled by Sethos, one of the Egyptian priests, with his capital alternating between Zoan and Memphis.

kingdom against kingdom – the Septuagint has "nome against nome". Egypt eventually divided into forty-two provinces, called "nomes", and these would turn to fight each other.

spirit – ruwach – wind, breath, mind, spirit. We might think of this in terms of the Egyptians losing heart, or even "getting the wind knocked out of it".

charmers … – all are words describing those who claim to make some kind of contact with the dead. In our advanced society, we call them "psychics" and people who "channel" the spirits. The Bible calls it dangerous and forbids it.

Later in the chapter we read:

cruel lord – probably Esarhaddon of Assyria, who conquered Egypt in 671 BC.

sea – every August, the Nile would overflow its banks, and the flood would water the fields. The flood waters were like a "sea". If the river didn’t overflow its banks, there would be famine.

Modern Fulfillment: It has been suggested that verses 5-11 were fulfilled when the Aswan High Dam was completed in Egypt in 1970. Built 500 miles south of Cairo, it has stopped the annual flooding of the Nile and has opened up huge amounts of irrigated land. It also created the world’s largest man-made lake, Lake Nassar. But there was a major problem created with the dam. When the Nile used to overflow its banks, it not only watered the fields, but spread a rich layer of silt over the fields. Now the silt stays up at the dam, the fields aren’t fertilized, and it’s causing an ecological nightmare. Additionally, there has been saltwater intrusion in the farming areas in the delta region. And even the fishing industry in the delta area has suffered.

brooks of defence – the canals will dry up.

reeds and flags – papyrus reeds will wither

cast angle – fish with hooks

flax – the plant the is used in making linen.

weave networks – no, not computer nerds, but weavers of white cloth.

counsellors – Egypt was known for its wise men. These were usually the priests. The kings of Egypt were usually chosen from the priests.

brutish – stupid. The wise men have nothing worth saying.

(Isa 19:12 NLT) What has happened to your wise counselors, Pharaoh? If they are so wise, let them tell you what the LORD Almighty is going to do to Egypt.

They can’t tell you what God is thinking because they don’t know Him.

stay of the tribes – the "cornerstone of the tribes". The people who are supposed to provide the solid, stable support for the nation have led the nation astray.

The problem with bad counsel is that it is usually just what we want to hear.

mingled – macak – to mix, mingle, produce by mixing. It’s a picture of mixing a drink, with God mixing a "distortion" into Egypt.

There will be nothing that Egypt can do for itself to get itself out of its problem.

The phrase appears in Isaiah 43 times, and though it might be referring to the time of this particular judgment, there is often a sense in which it is talking about the end times. I think much of this next section appears to be speaking of the time after Jesus comes back.

In Isaiah’s day Egypt was a power for Israel to fear. The tables will be turned.

It’s interesting to think of how far Egypt has come in the last thirty years. In 1967 and 1973, it participated with the other Arab countries to attack Israel. By 1979, they had become the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

It’s possible that these five cities are representative of the entire nation.

Canaan is the land that Israel is in. The Egyptians will learn to speak Hebrew.

One of the cities that will follow the Lord would be named "the city of destruction".

There will be such a radical change in Egypt, that an entire city that had been worshipping false gods will now worship the true God, Yahweh.

The altar in the middle of Egypt is so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.

The pillar at the border is a witness to those entering into Egypt that the Egyptians worship the Lord.

pillar – matstsebah – pillar, "mastaba"; as monument, personal memorial

In 640 AD, Egypt was conquered by the Arabs, and the country changed from Christian to Islamic. Those remaining Christians were called "Copts", meaning "Egyptian". The language of Egyptian remained only in the Coptic Church, while the country changed languages to Arabic.

Today there is a small minority of Christians in Egypt, mostly in the ancient, orthodox Coptic Church. But there will be a day when the Muslims of Egypt will come to Jesus.

It’s interesting that this idea of Egyptians worshipping the Lord isn’t all that strange to the Scripture. Moses wrote that Egyptians, after the third generation, would be allowed into the "congregation of the LORD". (Deut. 23:7-8)

smite – nagaph – to strike, smite

heal – rapha' – to heal, make healthful

(Isa 11:16 KJV) And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

There will be peace between the nations of Israel, Egypt, and Assyria (modern Iraq).