Ezekiel 29

1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the eleventh 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 the Lord came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you shall prophesy about him and about all of Egypt.

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

3 Speak, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, you great dragon, who rests in the midst of your rivers. And you say: ‘Mine is the river, and I have made myself.’

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.

4 But I will place a bridle in your jaws. And I will adhere the fish of your rivers to your scales. And I will draw you out of the midst of your rivers, and all your fish will adhere to your scales.

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.

5 And I will cast you into the desert, with all the fish of your river. You will fall upon the surface of the earth; you will not be taken up, nor gathered together. I have given you to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air, to be devoured.

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.

6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. For you have been a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.

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.

7 When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke, and so you wounded all of their shoulders. And when they leaned on you, you shattered, and so you injured all of their lower backs.

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.

8 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lead the sword over you, and I will destroy both man and beast from among you.

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

9 And the land of Egypt will be a desert and a wilderness. And they shall know that I am the Lord. For you have said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it.’

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.

10 Therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers. And I will make the land of Egypt into a wilderness, destroyed by the sword from the tower of Syene all the way to the borders of Ethiopia.

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.

11 The foot of man will not pass through it, and the foot of cattle will not walk in it. And it will be uninhabited for forty years.

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

12 And I will set the land of Egypt in desolation, in the midst of desolate lands, and its cities in the midst of overturned cites. And they will be desolate for forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and I will disperse them among the lands.

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.

13 For thus says the Lord God: After the end of forty years, I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they had been scattered.

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:

14 And I will lead back the captivity of Egypt, and I will collect them in the land of Pathros, in the land of their nativity. And in that place, they will be a lowly kingdom.

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.

15 It will be the lowest among the other kingdoms, and it will no longer be exalted above the nations. And I will diminish them, lest they rule over the Gentiles.

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.

16 And they will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel, teaching iniquity, so that they may flee and follow them. And they shall know that I am the Lord God.”

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.

17 And it happened that, in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

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,

18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has caused his army to serve with great servility against Tyre. Every head was shaven, and every shoulder was stripped of hair. And wages have not been paid to him, nor to his army, for Tyre, for the service by which he served for me against it.

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.

19 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will station Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in the land of Egypt. And he will take its multitude, and he will prey upon its profits, and he will plunder its spoils. And this shall be the wages for his army

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.

20 and for the work by which he has served against it. I have given to him the land of Egypt, because he has labored for me, says the Lord God.

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

21 In that day, a horn will spring forth for the house of Israel, and I will give to you an open mouth in their midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”

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.