Prophesy Against Egypt

1In the tenth 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 Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3Speak and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh,

“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,

The great [†]monster that lies in the midst of his canals of the Nile,

That has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’

4I will put hooks 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.

5I will abandon 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 [†]gathered.

I have given you for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

6Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh

Because they have been only a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.

7When they seized you with the hand,

You tore 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 bring upon you a sword, and I will cut off from you man and beast. 9The land of Egypt will become a desolation and waste. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.

Because [†]you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I have made it,’ 10therefore, behold, I am against 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. 11A man’s foot will not pass through it, and the foot of a beast will not pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years. 12So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I will scatter 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 gather the Egyptians from the peoples [†]among whom they were scattered. 14I will return the fortunes of Egypt and make them return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. 15It will be the lowest 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 have dominion over the nations. 16And it will never again be the security of the house of Israel, bringing to remembrance the iniquity of their having turned to go after Egypt. Then they will know that I am Lord Yahweh.”’”

17Now in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his military force [†]labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald, 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.” 19Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her [†]abundance and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his military force. 20I have given him the land of Egypt for his work which he [†]labored because they acted for Me,” declares Lord Yahweh.

21“On that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will [†]open your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”