• Judgment of Egypt

  • 1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
  • 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.
  • 3 Speak and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great monster that lies in the midst of his canals, That has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’
  • 4 “I will put hooks in your jaws And make the fish of your canals cling to your scales. And I will bring you up out of the midst of your canals, And all the fish of your canals will cling to your scales.
  • 5 “I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your canals; You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.
  • 6 “Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the Lord, Because they have been only a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.
  • 7 “When they took hold of you with the hand, You broke and tore all their hands; And when they leaned on you, You broke and made all their hips shake.”
  • 8 ‘Therefore the Lord God says this: “Behold, I am going to bring upon you a sword, and I will cut off from you human and animal life.
  • 9 The land of Egypt will become a desolation and place of ruins. Then they will know that I am the Lord. “Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I have made it,’
  • 10 therefore, behold, I am against you and against your canals, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and as far as the border of Cush.
  • 11 A human foot will not pass through it, nor will the foot of an animal pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years.
  • 12 So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of deserted lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate for forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.”
  • 13 ‘For this is what the Lord God says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered.
  • 14 And I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom.
  • 15 It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and it will not raise itself above the nations again. And I will make them small so that they will not rule over the nations.
  • 16 And it will no longer be a kingdom on which the house of Israel relies, bringing to mind the guilt of their having turned to Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”’ ”
  • 17 Now in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
  • 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head had a bald spot and every shoulder was rubbed raw. But he and his army acquired no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had performed against it.”
  • 19 Therefore this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoils and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army.
  • 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor which he performed, because they acted for Me,” declares the Lord God.
  • 21 “On that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”