Ezekiel 29

1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, came the word of the Lord unto me, saying,

Almost ten [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the twelfth day of the tenth [of that year], Yahweh gave me another message. [He said to me],

2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt.

“You human, turn toward Egypt and proclaim the terrible things that will happen to the king of Egypt and all his people.

3 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.

Give the king this message from [me], Yahweh the Lord: ‘You king of Egypt, I am your enemy; [you are like] [MET] a great monster/crocodile that lies in the [along the Nile River]. You say, “The Nile [River] is mine; I made it [for myself].”

4 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.

But [it will be as though] I will put hooks in your jaws and drag you out [from the river] onto the land, with fish sticking to your scales.

5 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.

I will leave you and all those fish to die in the desert; you will fall onto the ground, and your [corpse] will not be picked up and buried, because I have declared that your flesh will be food for the wild animals and birds.

6 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.

When that happens, all the people of Egypt will know that it is I, Yahweh, [who have the power to do what I say that I will do]. The Israeli people [trusted that you would help them]. But you have been [like] [MET] a reed pole in their hands.

7 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.

And when they leaned on that pole, it splintered and tore open their shoulders. When they leaned on you, [it was as though] you were a pole that broke, and as a result you wrenched their backs.

8 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.

Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: “I will bring [your enemies to attack] you with their swords, and they will kill your people and your animals.

9 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.

Egypt will become an empty desert. Then the people of Egypt will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].” You [proudly] said, “The Nile [River] is mine; I made it!”

10 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.

Therefore I am opposed to you and your streams, and I will cause Egypt to be ruined, and cause it to be an empty desert, from Migdol [in the north] to Aswan [in the south], as far [south] as the border of Ethiopia.

11 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.

For 40 years no one will walk through that area, and no one will live there.

12 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.

Egypt will be barren/empty, and it will be surrounded by other desolate nations. The cities in Egypt will be empty and deserted for 40 years, surrounded by ruined cities in nearby nations. I will cause the people of Egypt to be scattered to countries [far away].

13 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;

But this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, [also] say: “At the end of 40 years, I will enable the people of Egypt to return home [again] from the nations to which they were scattered.

14 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.

I will bring back the people of Egypt who had been captured, and I will enable them to live again in the Pathros area [in the south], where they lived previously. But Egypt will be a very unimportant [DOU] kingdom.

15 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.

It will be the least important of [all] the nations; it will never again be greater than the nearby countries. I will cause Egypt to be very weak, with the result that it will never again rule over other nations.

16 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.

[When that happens, the leaders of] Israel will no longer be tempted to ask Egypt to help them. Egypt will be punished, and that will cause the Israeli people to not forget that they previously sinned by trusting that Egypt could help them. And the people of Israel will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].” '”

17 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,

Almost twenty-seven years [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the first day [of the new year], Yahweh gave me this message:

18 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.

“You human, the army of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon fought very hard against Tyre, with the result that their heads were rubbed bare and their shoulders became (raw/full of blisters). But Nebuchadnezzar and his army did not get any valuable things from Tyre to reward them for their hard work [to destroy Tyre].

19 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.

Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: 'I will enable King Nebuchadnezzar’s army to conquer Egypt. They will carry away from there all the valuable things, in order that the king can give them to his soldiers.

20 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.

I will enable them to conquer Egypt as a reward for what they did [to Tyre], because [I], Yahweh say that [it was as though] his army was working for me, [doing what I wanted them to do, when they destroyed Tyre].

21 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.

And some day Israel will become a glorious nation [MET] again. When that happens, I will cause the Israeli people to respect what you say [MTY]. And then they will know that [it has happened because] I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].'”