Ezekiel 29

A PROPHECY OF EGYPT’S RUIN

29In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, face Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all of Egypt.^{a 3}Speak to him and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,

the great monster^Ab lying in the middle of his Nile,

who says, “My Nile is my own;

I made it for myself.”

⁴I will put hooks in your jaws^c

and make the fish of your streams

cling to your scales.

I will haul you up

from the middle of your Nile,

and all the fish of your streams

will cling to your scales.

⁵I will leave you in the desert,^d

you and all the fish of your streams.

You will fall on the open ground

and will not be taken away

or gathered for burial.^e

I have given you

to the wild creatures of the earth

and the birds of the sky as food.^f

⁶“ ‘Then all the inhabitants of Egypt

will know that I am the Lord,

for they^B have been a staff made of reed

to the house of Israel.

⁷When Israel grasped you by the hand,

you splintered,^g tearing all their shoulders;

when they leaned on you,

you shattered and made all their hips unsteady.^C

⁸“ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am going to bring a sword^h against you and cut off both people and animals from you. ⁹The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin.ⁱ Then they will know that I am the Lord. Because you^D said, “The Nile is my own; I made it,” ¹⁰therefore, I am against you and your Nile. I will turn the land of Egypt into ruins, a desolate waste from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. ¹¹No human foot will pass through it, and no animal foot will pass through it.^j It will be uninhabited for forty years. ¹²I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among^E desolate lands, and its cities will be a desolation among^F ruined cities^k for forty years. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.^l

¹³“ ‘For this is what the Lord God says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were dispersed.^{m 14}I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small they cannot rule over the nations. ¹⁶It will never again be an object of trustⁿ for the house of Israel, drawing attention to their iniquity of turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

BABYLON RECEIVES EGYPT AS COMPENSATION

¹⁷In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸“Son of man, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army labor strenuously against Tyre.^o Every head was made bald and every shoulder chafed, but he and his army received no compensation from Tyre for the labor he expended against it. ¹⁹Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am going to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,^p and he will carry off its wealth, seizing its spoil and taking its plunder. This will be his army’s compensation. ²⁰I have given him the land of Egypt as the pay he labored for, since they worked for me.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. ²¹“In that day I will cause a horn to sprout^q for the house of Israel, and I will enable you to speak out^r among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”