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, turn your face toward Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all of Egypt. ^d3Speak to him and say: This is what the Lord God says:

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

the great monster ^eflying 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 ^g

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, ^h

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. ⁱ

I have given you

to the beasts of the earth

and the birds of the sky as food. ^j

⁶Then all the inhabitants of Egypt

will know that I am Yahweh,

for they ^khave been a staff made of reed

to the house of Israel.

⁷When Israel grasped you by the hand,

you splintered, ^ltearing all their shoulders;

when they leaned on you,

you shattered and made all their hips unsteady. ^m

⁸“Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I am going to bring a sword ⁿagainst you and wipe out man and animal from you. ⁹The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin. ^oThen they will know that I am Yahweh. Because you ^psaid, ‘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. ^qIt will be uninhabited for 40 years. ¹²I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among ^rdesolate lands, and its cities will be a desolation among ^sruined cities ^tfor 40 years. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them across the countries. ^u

¹³“For this is what the Lord God says: At the end of 40 years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were dispersed. ^v14I 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 trust ^wfor the house of Israel, drawing attention to their sin of turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”

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, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor strenuously against Tyre. ^xEvery 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^ywho 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 ^zfor the house of Israel, and I will enable you to speak out ^aamong them. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”