1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: 3Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. 4But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. 5And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.29.5 open…: Heb. face of the field 6And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
8¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. 9And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. 10Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.29.10 utterly…: Heb. wastes of waste29.10 from…: or, from Migdol to Syene29.10 Syene: Heb. Seveneh 11No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. 12And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
13¶ Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: 14And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.29.14 habitation: or, birth29.14 base: Heb. low 15It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. 16And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
17¶ And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 18Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it: 19Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.29.19 take her spoil…: Heb. spoil her spoil, and prey her prey 20I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD.29.20 for his…: or, for his hire
21¶ In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
A Prophecy Against Egypt
1It was the tenth year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the 12th day of the tenth month, a message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 2“Son of man, turn your attention to Pharaoh Hophra. He is king of Egypt. Prophesy against him and the whole land of Egypt. 3Tell him, ‘The Lord and King says,
“ ‘ “Pharaoh Hophra, I am against you.
King of Egypt, you are like a huge monster
lying among your streams.
You say, ‘The Nile River belongs to me.
I made it for myself.’
4But I will put hooks in your jaws.
I will make the fish in your streams
stick to your scales.
I will pull you out from among your streams.
All the fish will stick to your scales.
5I will leave you out in the desert.
All the fish in your streams
will be there with you.
You will fall down in an open field.
You will not be picked up.
I will feed you to the wild animals
and to the birds in the sky.
6Then everyone who lives in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.
“ ‘ “You have been like a walking stick made out of a papyrus stem. The people of Israel tried to lean on you. 7They took hold of you. But you broke under their weight. You tore open their shoulders. The people of Israel leaned on you. But you snapped in two. And their backs were broken.” ’ ”
8So the Lord and King says, “I will send Nebuchadnezzar’s sword against you. He will kill people and animals alike. 9Egypt will become a dry and empty desert. Then your people will know that I am the Lord.
“You said, ‘The Nile River belongs to me. I made it for myself.’ 10So I am against you and your streams. I will destroy the land of Egypt. I will turn it into a dry and empty desert from Migdol all the way to Aswan. I will destroy everything as far as the border of Cush. 11No people or animals will travel through Egypt. No one will even live there for 40 years. 12Egypt will be more empty than any other land. Its destroyed cities will lie empty for 40 years. I will scatter the people of Egypt among the nations. I will send them to other countries.”
13But here is what the Lord and King says. “At the end of 40 years I will gather the Egyptians together. I will bring them back from the nations where they were scattered. 14I will bring them back from where they were taken as prisoners. I will return them to Upper Egypt. That is where their families came from. There they will be an unimportant kingdom. 15Egypt will be the least important kingdom of all. It will never place itself above the other nations again. I will make it very weak. Then it will never again rule over the nations. 16The people of Israel will no longer trust in Egypt. Instead, Egypt will remind them of how they sinned when they turned to it for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord and King.”
17It was the 27th year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the first day of the first month, a message from the Lord came to me. Here is what the Lord said. 18“Son of man, King Nebuchadnezzar drove his army in a hard military campaign. The campaign was against Tyre. Their helmets rubbed their heads bare. The heavy loads they carried made their shoulders raw. But he and his army did not gain anything from the campaign he led against Tyre. 19So I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He will carry off its wealth. He will take away anything else they have. He will give it to his army. 20I have given Egypt to him as a reward for his efforts. After all, he and his army attacked Egypt because I told them to,” announces the Lord and King.
21“When Nebuchadnezzar wins the battle over Egypt, I will make the Israelites strong again. Ezekiel, I will open your mouth. And you will be able to speak to them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
