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, on the twelfth day of the month, came the word of the Lord unto 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 thy face against Pharaoh the 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 hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, I will be against thee, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great crocodile that lieth in the midst of his streams, who hath said, Mine is my stream, 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 thy jaws, and I will fasten the fish of thy streams on thy scales; and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy streams, with all the fish of thy streams which shall stick fast on thy 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 cast thee out into the wilderness, thee with all the fish of thy streams; upon the open field shalt thou fall; thou shalt not be brought in, nor gathered up: to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven have I given thee for food.

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 reed-staff 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 thee with the hand, thou wast cracked, and didst rend for them all the shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou wast broken, and madest 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 hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and I will cut off out of thee man and beast.

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 changed into a waste and ruin, and they shall know that I am the Lord; because he hath said, The stream 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.

Therefore, behold, I will be against thee, and against thy streams, and I will render the land of Egypt a mass of ruins, a waste, and a wilderness, from Migdol to Seveneh even up to the border of Ethiopia.

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

There shall not pass through it the foot of man, and the foot of beast shall not pass through it, and it shall not 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 render the land of Egypt a desolate land in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities among the cities that are ruined 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.

For thus hath said the Lord Eternal, [only] at the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they shall have been 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 back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their own origin: and they shall be there an unimportant 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.

Among the kingdoms it shall be the lowest; neither shall it raise itself any more above the nations: and 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 unto the house of Israel for a dependence, bringing [their] iniquity to remembrance, when they turned after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Eternal.

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, on the first of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto 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 the king of Babylon hath caused his army to perform a great service against Tyre; every head hath been made bald, and every shoulder hath been rubbed sore: yet no reward hath come to him or to his army from Tyre, for the service that he hath performed 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 hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, I will give unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon the land of Egypt; and he shall carry away its multitude, and take its spoil, and plunder its prey: and this shall be the reward 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.

As his recompense for that which he hath served against it, have I given him the land of Egypt, for that which they had done against me, saith the Lord Eternal.

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.”

On that day will I cause to grow a horn for the house of Israel, and unto thee will I open the mouth in the midst of them: and they shall know that I am the Lord.