Ezekiel 29

1 In the tenth year, the tenth month, 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 Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharao king of Egypt: and thou shalt prophesy of him, and of all Egypt:

“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt; prophesy against him and against all of Egypt.

3 Speak, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, Pharao king of Egypt, thou great dragon that liest in the midst of thy rivers, and sayest: The river is mine, and I made 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 But I will put a bridle in thy jaws: and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick to thy scales: and I will draw thee out of the midst of thy rivers, and all thy fish shall stick to thy scales.

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 cast thee forth into the desert, and all the fish of thy river: thou shalt fall upon the face of the earth, thou shalt not be taken up, nor gathered together: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the earth, and to the fowls of the air.

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 all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord: because thou hast been a staff of a reed to the house 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 hold of thee with the hand thou didst break, and rent all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brokest, and weakenest all their loins.

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 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will bring the sword upon thee: and cut off man and beast out of thee.

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 shall become a desert, and a wilderness: and they shall know that I am the Lord: because thou hast said: The river 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 Therefore, behold I come against thee, and thy rivers: and I will make the land of Egypt utterly desolate, and wasted by the sword, from the tower of Syene, even to the borders 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 The foot of man shall not pass through it, neither shall the foot of beasts go through it: nor shall it be inhabited during 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 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the lands that are desolate, and the cities thereof in the midst of the cities that are destroyed, and they shall be desolate for forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them 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 thus saith the Lord God: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the people among whom they had been scattered.

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 And I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will place them in the land of Phatures, in the land of their nativity, and they shall be there a low 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 shall be the lowest among other kingdoms, and it shall no more be exalted over the nations, and I will diminish them that they shall rule no more 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 they shall be no more a confidence to the house of Israel, teaching iniquity, that they may flee, and follow them: and they shall know that I am the Lord God.

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 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first of the month: that 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, Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon hath made his army to undergo hard service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: and there hath been no reward given him, nor his army for Tyre, for the service that he rendered me 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 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will set Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon in the land of Egypt: and he shall take her multitude, and take the booty thereof for a prey, and rifle the spoils thereof: and it shall be wages 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 And for the service that he hath done me against it: I have given him the land of Egypt, because he hath laboured for me, saith the Lord God.

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 a horn shall bud forth to 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.

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.'”