Jezekiel 29

1 In the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the first [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, set thy face against Pharao king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against the whole of Egypt:

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

3 and say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against Pharao, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, that says, The rivers are mine, and I made them.

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 thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy river to stick to thy sides, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy river:

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 quickly cast down thee and all the fish of thy river: thou shalt fall on the face of the plain, and shalt by no means be gathered, and shalt not be brought together: I have given thee for food to the wild beasts of the earth and to the fowls of the sky.

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 all the dwellers in Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because thou hast been a staff of reed to the house 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 hold of thee with their hand, thou didst break: and when every hand was clapped against them, and when they leaned on thee, thou wast utterly broken, and didst crush the loins of them all.

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

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I [will] bring a sword upon thee, and will cut off from thee 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 shall be ruined and desert; and they shall know that I am the Lord; because thou sayest, The rivers are mine, and I made them.

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 Therefore, behold, I am against thee, and against all thy rivers, and I will give up the land of Egypt to desolation, and the sword, and destruction, from Magdol and Syene even to the borders of the Ethiopians.

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 shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it, and it shall not be inhabited for forty years.

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

12 And I will cause her land to be utterly destroyed in the midst of a land that is desolate, and her cities shall be [desolate] forty years in the midst of cities that are desolate: and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and will utterly scatter them into 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 Thus saith the Lord; After forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations among whom they have been scattered;

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 and I will turn the captivity of the Egyptians, and will cause them to dwell in the land of Phathore, in the land whence they were taken;

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 and it shall be a base kingdom beyond all [other] kingdoms; it shall not any more be exalted over the nations; and I will make them few in number, that they may not be [great] among 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 they shall no more be to the house of Israel a confidence bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they follow after them; and they shall know 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 And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, 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, Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre; every head was bald, and every shoulder peeled; yet there was no reward to him or to his army [serving] against Tyre, nor for the service wherewith they served 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 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I [will] give to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon the land of Egypt, and he shall take the plunder thereof, and seize the spoils thereof; and [it] shall be a reward 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 In return for his service wherewith he served against Tyre, I have given him the land of Egypt; thus saith the Lord God:

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 shall a horn spring forth for all the house of Israel, and I will give thee an open mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know 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.”