A Prophecy Against Egypt

29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month,1 the word of the Lord came to me: 29:2 “Son of man, turn toward2 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 29:3 Tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘Look, I am against3 you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,

the great monster4 lying in the midst of its waterways,

who has said, “My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.”5

29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws

and stick the fish of your waterways to your scales.

I will haul you up from the midst of your waterways,

and all the fish of your waterways will stick to your scales.

29:5 I will leave you in the wilderness,

you and all the fish of your waterways;

you will fall in the open field and will not be gathered up or collected.6

I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.

29:6 Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord

because they were a reed staff7 for the house of Israel;

29:7 when they grasped you with their hand,8 you broke and tore9 their shoulders,

and when they leaned on you, you splintered and caused their legs to be unsteady.10

29:8 “ ‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will kill11 every person and every animal. 29:9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Because he said, “The Nile is mine and I made it,” 29:10 I am against12 you and your waterways. I will turn the land of Egypt into an utter desolate ruin from Migdol13 to Syene,14 as far as the border with Ethiopia. 29:11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal’s foot will pass through it; it will be uninhabited for forty years. 29:12 I will turn the land of Egypt into a desolation in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.

29:13 “ ‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years15 I will gather Egypt from the peoples where they were scattered. 29:14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and will bring them back16 to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin; there they will be an insignificant kingdom. 29:15 It will be the most insignificant of the kingdoms; it will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations. 29:16 It will never again be Israel’s source of confidence, but a reminder of how they sinned by turning to Egypt for help.17 Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.’ ”

29:17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month,18 the word of the Lord came to me: 29:18 “Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar19 of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre.20 Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it. 29:19 Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army’s wages. 29:20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his compensation for attacking Tyre21, because they did it for me, declares the sovereign Lord. 29:21 On that day I will make Israel powerful,22 and I will give you the right to be heard23 among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”