1 Proclamation Against Egypt In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, Ezek. 28:21 set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and Is. 19:1; Jer. 25:19; 46:2, 25; Ezek. 30:1—32:32; Joel 3:19 against all Egypt.
3 Speak, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God : Jer. 44:30; Ezek. 28:22; 29:10 “Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great Ps. 74:13, 14; Is. 37:1; 51:9; Ezek. 32:2 monster who lies in the midst of his rivers, Ezek. 28:2 Who has said, ‘My River is my own; I have made it for myself.’
4 But 2 Kin. 19:28; Is. 37:29; Ezek. 38:4 I will put hooks in your jaws, And cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales; I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, And all the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales.
5 I will leave you in the wilderness, You and all the fish of your rivers; You shall fall on the open Ezek. 32:4–6 field; Jer. 8:2; 16:4; 25:33 You shall not be picked up or gathered. Jer. 7:33; 34:20; Ezek. 39:4 I have given you as food To the beasts of the field And to the birds of the heavens.
6 “Then all the inhabitants of Egypt Shall know that I am the Lord , Because they have been a 2 Kin. 18:21; Is. 36:6; Ezek. 17:15 staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 Jer. 37:5, 7, 11; Ezek. 17:17 When they took hold of you with the hand, You broke and tore all their shoulders; When they leaned on you, You broke and made all their backs quiver.”
8 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God : “Surely I will bring Jer. 46:13; Ezek. 14:17; 32:11–13 a sword upon you and cut off from you man and beast.
9 And the land of Egypt shall become Ezek. 30:7, 8 desolate and waste; then they will know that I am the Lord , because he said, ‘The River is mine, and I have made it. ’
10 Indeed, therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, Ezek. 30:12 and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, Ezek. 30:6 from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia.
11 Jer. 43:11, 12; 46:19; Ezek. 32:13 Neither foot of man shall pass through it nor foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years.
12 Jer. 25:15–19; 27:6–11; Ezek. 30:7, 26 I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and among the cities that are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate forty years; and I will Jer. 46:19; Ezek. 30:23, 26 scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.”
13 ‘Yet, thus says the Lord God : “At the Is. 19:23; Jer. 46:26 end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered.
14 I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they shall be a Ezek. 17:6, 14 lowly kingdom.
15 It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore.
16 No longer shall it be Is. 30:2, 3; 36:4, 6; Lam. 4:17; Ezek. 17:15; 29:6 the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God .” ’ ”
17 Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
18 “Son of man, Jer. 25:9; 27:6; Ezek. 26:7–12 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre; every head was made Jer. 48:37; Ezek. 27:31 bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw; yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre, for the labor which they expended on it.
19 Therefore thus says the Lord God : ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to Jer. 43:10–13; Ezek. 30:10 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army.
20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they Is. 10:6, 7; 45:1–3; Jer. 25:9 worked for Me,’ says the Lord God .
21 ‘In that day 1 Sam. 2:10; Ps. 92:10; 132:17 I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring forth, and I will Ezek. 24:27; Amos 3:7, 8; (Luke 21:15) open your mouth to speak in their midst. Then they shall know that I am the Lord .’ ”