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,

In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh 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, set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt; prophesy against him and against all 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.

Declare and say, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. You, the great sea monster that lurks in the midst of the river, that says, “My river is my own. I have made it for 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.

For I will place hooks in your jaw, and the fish of your Nile will cling to your scales; I will lift you up from the middle of your river along with all the fish of the river that cling 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 down into the wilderness, you and all the fish from your river. You will fall on the open field; you will not be gathered nor lifted up. I will give you as food to the living things of the earth and to the birds of the heavens.

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 all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a reed stalk to the house of Israel.

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 they took hold of you in their hand, you broke and tore open their shoulder; and when they leaned on you, you were broken, and you caused their legs to be unsteady.

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

Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I will bring a sword against you. I will cut off both man and beast from you.

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.

So the land of Egypt will become desolate and a ruin. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, because the sea monster had said, “The river is mine, for I have 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.

Therefore, behold! I am against you and against your river, so I will give the land of Egypt over to desolation and waste, and you will become a wasteland from the Migdol to Syene and the borders of Cush.

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

No man's foot will pass through it, and no wild animal's foot will pass through it. It will not be inhabited 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.

For I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of uninhabited lands, and its cities in the midst of wasted cities will become a desolation for forty years; then I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them though the lands.

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:

For the Lord Yahweh says this: At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom 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 restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the region of Pathros, to the land of their origin. Then they will be a lowly kingdom there.

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.

It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms, and it will not be lifted up any more among the nations. I will diminish them so they will no longer rule over nations.

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 Egyptians will no longer be a reason for confidence for the house of Israel. Instead, they will be a reminder of the iniquity that Israel committed when they turned to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.'”

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,

Then it came about in the twenty-seventh year on the first of the first month, that the word of Yahweh 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 the king of Babylon stationed his army to do hard work against Tyre. Every head was rubbed until it was made bald, and every shoulder was made raw. Yet he and his army received no payment from Tyre for the hard work that he carried out against 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.

Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, 'Behold! I am giving the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will take away its wealth, plunder its possessions, and carry off all he finds there; that will be his army's wages.

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 have given him the land of Egypt as the wages for the work they did for me—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

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.

On that day I will make a horn sprout up for the house of Israel, and I make you speak in their midst, so that they will know that I am Yahweh.'”