Isaiah 19:7,8

‘The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile, will become dry, be driven away and be no more. The fishermen also will lament, and all those who cast hook into the Nile will mourn, and those who spread nets on the water will languish.'

The centrality of the Nile to Egypt's life comes out here. The fields which were fruitful because of their nearness to the Nile will cease to be fruitful, they will become dried up, they will cease to bear. And beyond them lay the desert. Those who fish in her with hook and net will discover that they catch little, for the fish will be sparse, and the fishermen will thus lament and mourn and languish. These methods of fishing are well depicted on Egyptian monuments.

Note the continuing threefold emphases indicating the completeness of the devastation. ‘Meadows - brink - all that is sown', ‘dry - driven away - no more', ‘fishermen - cast hook - spread nets', ‘lament - mourn - languish'.