Prophesy Against Egypt
In the atenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of Yahweh 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 Lord Yahweh,
“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
The great amonster that lies in the midst of his canals of the Nile,
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 canals of the Nile cling to your scales.
And I will bring you up out of the midst of your canals of the Nile,
And all the fish of your canals of the Nile will cling to your scales.
5 I will aabandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your canals of the Nile;
You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or bgathered.
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 Yahweh
Because they have been only a astaff made of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they seized you with the hand,
You atore and split open all their shoulders;
And when they leaned on you,
You broke and made all their loins quake.”
8 ‘Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “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 Yahweh.
Because you bsaid, ‘The Nile is mine, and I have made it,’ 10 therefore, behold, I am aagainst you and against your canals of the Nile, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and even to the border of Ethiopia. 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 Lord Yahweh, “At the end of forty years I will agather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I will return 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 bhave dominion over the nations. 16 And it will never again be the asecurity of the house of Israel, bbringing to remembrance the iniquity of their having turned to go after Egypt. Then they will know that I am Lord Yahweh.”’”
17 Now in the atwenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 18 “Son of man, aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his military force labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bbald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his military force had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had labored against it.” 19 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I awill give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her babundance and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his military force. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his work which he alabored because they acted for Me,” declares Lord Yahweh.
21 “On that day I will make a ahorn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will bopen your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”