Prophecy Against Egypt

¹iIn the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²j“Son of man, kset your face against lPharaoh king of Egypt, mand prophesy against him and nagainst all Egypt; ³speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

o“Behold, I am against you,

Pharaoh king of Egypt,

pthe great dragon that lies

in the midst of his streams,

qthat says, ‘My Nile is my own;

I made it for myself.’

⁴I will rput hooks in your jaws,

and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;

and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,

with all the fish of your streams

that stick to your scales.

⁵sAnd I will cast you out into the wilderness,

you and all the fish of your streams;

you shall fall ton the open field,

and unot be brought together or gathered.

To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens

sI give you as food.

⁶Then all the inhabitants of Egypt vshall know that I am the Lord.

“Because you1 have been wa staff of reed to the house of Israel, ⁷xwhen they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.2 ⁸Therefore thus says the Lord God: yBehold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, ⁹and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. vThen they will know that I am the Lord.

z“Because you3 said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ ¹⁰therefore, zbehold, I am against you and aagainst your streams, and aI will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, bfrom Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. ¹¹cNo foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. ¹²dAnd I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. eI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

¹³“For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years fI will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, ¹⁴and gI will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to hthe land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, iand never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶And it shall never again be jthe reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. kThen they will know that I am the Lord God.”

¹⁷lIn the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸m“Son of man, nNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: oBehold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; pand he shall carry off its wealth4 qand despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. ²⁰rI have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.

²¹“On that day sI will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and tI will open your lips among them. uThen they will know that I am the Lord.”