Judgment of Egypt

1 In the atenth 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 aPharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all bEgypt.

3 “Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord 1God,

“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,

The great 2amonster that lies in the midst of his 3rivers,

That bhas said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’

4 “I will put ahooks in your jaws

And make the fish of your 1rivers cling to your scales.

And I will bring you up out of the midst of your 1rivers,

And all the fish of your 1rivers will cling to your scales.

5 “I will aabandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your 1rivers;

You will fall on the 2open field; you will not be brought together or 3bgathered.

I have given you for cfood to the beasts 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 astaff made of reed to the house of Israel.

7 “When they took hold of you with the hand,

You abroke and tore all their 1hands;

And when they leaned on you,

You broke and made all their loins 2quake.”

8 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will abring upon you a sword and I will cut off from you man and beast.

9 “The aland of Egypt will become a desolation and waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Because 1you bsaid, ‘The Nile is mine, and I have made it,’

10 therefore, behold, I am aagainst you and against your 1rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and even to the border of 2Ethiopia.

11 “A man’s foot will anot pass through it, and the foot of a beast will not 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 amidst of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I will bscatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.”

13 ‘For thus says the Lord God, “At the end of forty years I will agather the Egyptians from the peoples 1among whom they were scattered.

14 “I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and make them return to the land of aPathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom.

15 “It will be the alowest of the kingdoms, and it will never again lift itself up above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will not brule over the nations.

16 “And it will never again be the aconfidence of the house of Israel, 1bbringing to mind the iniquity of their having turned 2to Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.” ’ ”

17 Now in the atwenty-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, aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor 1hard against Tyre; every head was made bbald and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had 2performed against it.”

19 Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I awill give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her 1bwealth and capture her spoil 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 1aperformed, because they acted for Me,” declares the Lord God.

21 “On that day I will make a ahorn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will 1bopen your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”