Ezekiel 29:1–31:2

¹In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying, ²‘Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy concerning him, and concerning Egypt—all of it. ³Speak, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt! The great dragon that is crouching in the midst of his floods, Who hath said, My flood is my own, And I—I have made it for myself. ⁴And I have put hooks in thy jaws, And I have caused the fish of thy floods to cleave to thy scales, And I have caused thee to come up from the midst of thy floods, And every fish of thy floods to thy scales doth cleave. ⁵And I have left thee in the wilderness, Thou and every fish of thy floods, On the face of the field thou dost fall, Thou art not gathered nor assembled, To the beast of the earth and to the fowl of the heavens I have given thee for food. ⁶And known have all inhabitants of Egypt That I am Jehovah, Because of their being a staff of reed to the house of Israel. ⁷In their taking hold of thee by thy hand,—thou art crushed, And hast rent to them all the shoulder, And in their leaning on thee thou art broken, And hast caused all their thighs to stand.

⁸Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am bringing in against thee a sword, And have cut off from thee man and beast. ⁹And the land of Egypt hath been for a desolation and a waste, And they have known that I am Jehovah. Because he said: The flood is mine, and I made it. ¹⁰Therefore, lo, I am against thee, and against thy floods, And have given the land of Egypt for wastes, A waste, a desolation, from Migdol to Syene, And unto the border of Cush. ¹¹Not pass over into it doth a foot of man, Yea, the foot of beast doth not pass into it, Nor is it inhabited forty years. ¹²And I have made the land of Egypt a desolation, In the midst of desolate lands, And its cities, in the midst of waste cities, Are a desolation forty years, And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have dispersed them through lands. ¹³But thus said the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years I gather the Egyptians Out of the peoples whither they have been scattered, ¹⁴And I have turned back to the captivity of Egypt, And I have brought them back To the land of Pathros, to the land of their birth, And they have been there a low kingdom. ¹⁵Of the kingdoms it is lowest, And it lifteth not up itself any more above the nations, And I have made them few, So as not to rule among nations. ¹⁶And it is no more to the house of Israel for a confidence, Bringing iniquity to remembrance, By their turning after them, And they have known that I am the Lord Jehovah.’

¹⁷And it cometh to pass, in the twenty and seventh year, in the first month, in the first of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying: ¹⁸‘Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Hath caused his force to serve a great service against Tyre, Every head is bald—every shoulder peeled, And reward he had none, nor his force, out of Tyre, For the service that he served against it. ¹⁹Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah, Lo, I am giving to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon the land of Egypt, And he hath taken away its store, And hath taken its spoil, and taken its prey, And it hath been a reward to his force. ²⁰His wage for which he laboured I have given to him, The land of Egypt—in that they wrought for Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. ²¹In that day I cause to shoot up a horn to the house of Israel, And to thee I give an opening of the mouth in their midst, And they have known that I am Jehovah!’

Chapter 30

¹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: ²‘Son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Howl ye, ha! for the day! ³For near is a day, near is a day to Jehovah! A day of clouds, the time of nations it is. ⁴And come in hath a sword to Egypt, And there hath been great pain in Cush, In the falling of the wounded in Egypt, And they have taken its store, And broken down have been its foundations. ⁵Cush, and Phut, and Lud, and all the mixture, and Chub, And the sons of the land of the covenant with them by sword do fall, ⁶Thus said Jehovah: And—fallen have supporters of Egypt, And come down hath the arrogance of her strength, From Migdol to Syene, by sword they fall in her, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. ⁷And they have been desolated in the midst of desolate lands, And its cities are in the midst of wasted cities. ⁸And they have known that I am Jehovah, In My giving fire against Egypt, And broken have been all her helpers. ⁹In that day go forth do messengers from before Me in ships, To trouble confident Cush, And there hath been great pain among them, As the day of Egypt, for lo, it hath come. ¹⁰Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have caused the multitude of Egypt to cease, By the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, ¹¹He and his people with him—the terrible of nations, Are brought in to destroy the land, And they have drawn their swords against Egypt, And have filled the land with the wounded. ¹²And I have made floods a dry place, And I have sold the land into the hand of evil doers, And I have made desolate the land, And its fulness, by the hand of strangers, I, Jehovah, have spoken. ¹³Thus said the Lord Jehovah: And—I have destroyed idols, And caused vain things to cease from Noph, And a prince of the land of Egypt there is no more, And I give fear in the land of Egypt. ¹⁴And I have made Pathros desolate, And I have given fire against Zoan, And I have done judgments in No, ¹⁵And I have poured out My fury on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, And I have cut off the multitude of No. ¹⁶And I have given fire against Egypt, Greatly pained is Sin, and No is to be rent, And Noph hath daily distresses. ¹⁷The youths of Aven and Pi-Beseth by sword do fall, And these into captivity do go. ¹⁸And in Tehaphnehes hath the day been dark, In My breaking there the yokes of Egypt, And ceased in her hath the excellency of her strength, She—a cloud doth cover her, And her daughters into captivity do go. ¹⁹And I have done judgments in Egypt, And they have known that I am Jehovah.’

²⁰And it cometh to pass, in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying: ‘Son of man, ²¹The arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, I have broken, And lo, it hath not been bound up to give healing, To put a bandage to bind it, To strengthen it—to lay hold on the sword. ²²Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, And I have broken his arms, The strong one and the broken one, And have caused the sword to fall out of his hand, ²³And scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have spread them through lands, ²⁴And strengthened the arms of the king of Babylon, And I have given My sword into his hand, And I have broken the arms of Pharaoh, And he hath groaned the groans of a pierced one—before him. ²⁵And I have strengthened the arms of the king of Babylon, And the arms of Pharaoh do fall down, And they have known that I am Jehovah, In My giving My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, And he hath stretched it out toward the land of Egypt. ²⁶And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have spread them through lands, And they have known that I am Jehovah!’

Chapter 31

¹And it cometh to pass, in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying: ²‘Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and unto his multitude: To whom hast thou been like in thy greatness?