Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.
Parallel translations
- WEB They will be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
- KJV And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
- NKJV Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory.
- NASB Then they will be terrified and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their pride.
- NLT Then the Philistines will be thrown into panic, for they counted on the power of Ethiopia and boasted of their allies in Egypt!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Those who relied on Ethiopia and Egypt will be dismayed and ashamed. It matters because misplaced trust always ends in disappointment.
Overview
Judah and others who set their hopes on these nations will be left confounded when their 'expectation' and 'glory' collapse. The disappointment is the natural fruit of trusting in what cannot save. Isaiah exposes the emptiness of confidence placed in human strength. The verse warns that hope anchored anywhere but in God leads to shame.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 30:5everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They cannot be of help; they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.”
- Isa 30:3But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.
- 1 Cor 3:21Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours,
- Ezek 29:6–7Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel.
- 2 Kgs 18:21Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- Jer 9:23–24This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- Jer 17:5This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Isa 2:22Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Isa 36:6Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- Isa 30:7Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 20:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.