A Lament for Egypt
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 a“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
b“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3 aFor the day is near,
bthe day of the Lord is near;
it will be ca day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
4 aA sword shall come upon Egypt,
band anguish shall be in cCush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and dher wealth is carried away,
and eher foundations are torn down.
5 aCush, and bPut, and Lud, and call Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
6 “Thus says the Lord:
aThose who support Egypt shall fall,
and bher proud might shall come down;
cfrom Migdol to Syene
they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
7 aAnd they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8 aThen they will know that I am the Lord,
when bI have set fire to Egypt,
and call her helpers are broken.
9 “On that day amessengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting bpeople of Cush, and canguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom; for, behold, it comes!
10 “Thus says the Lord God:
a“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, athe most ruthless of nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the land,
band they shall draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 And aI will bdry up the Nile
and will sell the land into the hand of cevildoers;
dI will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
by the hand of eforeigners;
fI am the Lord; I have spoken.
13 “Thus says the Lord God:
a“I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in bMemphis;
cthere shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so dI will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make aPathros a desolation
and will set fire to bZoan
cand will execute judgments on dThebes.
15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the multitude of Thebes.
16 And I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
and aMemphis shall face enemies by day.
17 The young men of On and of Pi‑beseth shall fall by the sword,
and the women shall go into captivity.
18 At aTehaphnehes bthe day shall be dark,
when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and cher proud might shall come to an end in her;
she shall be covered by a cloud,
and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus aI will execute judgments on Egypt.
bThen they will know that I am the Lord.”
Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon
20 aIn the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 a“Son of man, bI have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, cit has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and awill break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 aI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And aI will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put bmy sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him clike a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. aThen they shall know that I am the Lord, bwhen I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”