Ezekiel 29

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

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

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

Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:

3 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.’

Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the middle of his rivers, which has said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.

4 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.

But I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales, and I will bring you up out of the middle of your rivers, and all the fish of your rivers shall stick to your scales.

5 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.

And I will leave you thrown into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers: you shall fall on the open fields; you shall not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given you for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

6 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.

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

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

When they took hold of you by your hand, you did break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned on you, you brake, and made all their loins to be at a stand.

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

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and cut off man and beast out of you.

9 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,’

And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he has said, The river is mine, and I have made it.

10 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.

Behold, therefore I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even to the border of Ethiopia.

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

No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

12 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.

And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the middle of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

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

Yet thus says the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people where they were scattered:

14 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.

And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

15 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.

It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

16 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.”

And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which brings their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

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

And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

18 “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.

Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:

19 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.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

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

I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor with which he served against it, because they worked for me, says the Lord GOD.

21 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.”

In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in the middle of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.