Ezekiel 29

1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the tenth year, a message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, let your face be turned against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and be a prophet against him and against all Egypt:

“Son of man, face towards Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and the whole of Egypt.

3 Say to them, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great river-beast stretched out among his Nile streams, who has said, The Nile is mine, and I have made it for myself.

Tell him that this is what the Lord God says: Watch out, because I'm condemning you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying in your rivers, who says, ‘The Nile belongs to me; I made it myself.’

4 And I will put hooks in your mouth, and the fish of your streams will be hanging from your skin; and I will make you come up out of your streams, with all the fish of your streams hanging from your skin.

I'm going to put hooks in your jaws and make the fish in your river stick to your scales. I will pull you up out of your river, and all the fish will stick to your scales.

5 And I will let you be in the waste land, you and all the fish of your streams: you will go down on the face of the land; you will not be taken up or put to rest in the earth; I have given you for food to the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven.

I will throw you and the fish away, leaving you in the desert. Your body will fall on the ground and be left in the open. It won't be collected or taken to be buried. I'll leave you as food for wild animals and birds of prey.

6 And it will be clear to all the people of Egypt that I am the Lord, because you have been a false support to the children of Israel.

Then everyone in Egypt will know that I am the Lord. When you had to deal with the people of Israel you were like a flimsy walking stick made from a reed.

7 When they took a grip of you in their hands, you were crushed so that their arms were broken: and when they put their weight on you for support, you were broken and all their muscles gave way.

When Israel grabbed hold of you, you split apart, damaging their shoulder. When they leaned on you, you broke, putting their backs out.

8 For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am sending a sword on you, cutting off from you man and beast.

So this is what the Lord God says: I will attack you with a sword and kill both people and animals.

9 And the land of Egypt will be an unpeopled waste; and they will be certain that I am the Lord: because he has said, The Nile is mine, and I made it.

Egypt will become an empty wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Because you said, ‘The Nile belongs to me; I made it,’

10 See, then, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an unpeopled waste, from Migdol to Syene, even as far as the edge of Ethiopia.

that's why I'm condemning you and your river. I will ruin Egypt, making it into an empty wasteland all the way from Migdol in the north to Syene in the south, and up to the border with Cush.

11 No foot of man will go through it and no foot of beast, and it will be unpeopled for forty years.

No one, human or animal, will travel that way or live there for forty years.

12 I will make the land of Egypt a waste among the countries which are made waste, and her towns will be unpeopled among the towns which have been made waste, for forty years: and I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries.

I will make Egypt more of a wasteland than any other country, and its towns will lie in ruins for forty years among all the other ruined towns. I will scatter the Egyptians among the different nations and countries.

13 For this is what the Lord has said: At the end of forty years I will get the Egyptians together from the peoples where they have gone in flight:

However, this is what the Lord God says: After forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the different countries where they were scattered.

14 I will let the fate of Egypt be changed, and will make them come back into the land of Pathros, into the land from which they came; and there they will be an unimportant kingdom.

I will bring Egypt out of captivity and take them back to the land of Pathros, where they originally came from. Their kingdom will be insignificant.

15 It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and never again will it be lifted up over the nations: I will make them small, so that they may not have rule over the nations.

Egypt will be the lowest of kingdoms and won't ever be more important than other nations again. I will bring Egypt down so that it won't ever be able to rule over the nations again.

16 And Egypt will no longer be the hope of the children of Israel, causing sin to come to mind when their eyes are turned to them: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.

The people of Israel won't ever trust in Egypt again; instead they will be reminded them of their sin when they turned to the Egyptians for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”

17 Now in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year, a message from the Lord came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, made his army do hard work against Tyre, and the hair came off every head and every arm was rubbed smooth: but he and his army got no payment out of Tyre for the hard work which he had done against it.

“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army work really hard in the siege against Tyre. The soldiers had their hair worn off their heads, and their shoulders rubbed raw. However, he and his army didn't gain any benefit from Tyre for all the work they did in attacking it.

19 For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am giving the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon: he will take away her wealth, and take her goods by force and everything which is there; and this will be the payment for his army.

So this is what the Lord God says: I'm going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon who will seize everything valuable. He will loot the country, robbing it to pay his army.

20 I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his hard work, because they were working for me, says the Lord.

I'm rewarding him for all his work by giving him Egypt because the work they did was for me, declares the Lord God.

21 In that day I will make a horn put out buds for the children of Israel, and I will let your words come freely among them, and they will be certain that I am the Lord.

At that time I will give power back to the people of Israel and I will help you speak to them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”