A Warning for Pharaoh

On March 3,* during the twelfth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, mourn for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and give him this message:

“You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations,

but you are really just a sea monster,

heaving around in your own rivers,

stirring up mud with your feet.

3 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

I will send many people

to catch you in my net

and haul you out of the water.

4 I will leave you stranded on the land to die.

All the birds of the heavens will land on you,

and the wild animals of the whole earth

will gorge themselves on you.

5 I will scatter your flesh on the hills

and fill the valleys with your bones.

6 I will drench the earth with your gushing blood

all the way to the mountains,

filling the ravines to the brim.

7 When I blot you out,

I will veil the heavens and darken the stars.

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon will not give you its light.

8 I will darken the bright stars overhead

and cover your land in darkness.

I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!

9 “I will disturb many hearts when I bring news of your downfall to distant nations you have never seen. 10 Yes, I will shock many lands, and their kings will be terrified at your fate. They will shudder in fear for their lives as I brandish my sword before them on the day of your fall. 11 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“The sword of the king of Babylon

will come against you.

12 I will destroy your hordes with the swords of mighty warriors—

the terror of the nations.

They will shatter the pride of Egypt,

and all its hordes will be destroyed.

13 I will destroy all your flocks and herds

that graze beside the streams.

Never again will people or animals

muddy those waters with their feet.

14 Then I will let the waters of Egypt become calm again,

and they will flow as smoothly as olive oil,

says the Sovereign Lord.

15 And when I destroy Egypt

and strip you of everything you own

and strike down all your people,

then you will know that I am the Lord.

16 Yes, this is the funeral song

they will sing for Egypt.

Let all the nations mourn.

Let them mourn for Egypt and its hordes.

I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”