Ezekiel 29

1 In the tenth year, in the tenth [month], on the twelfth of the month, a word of YHWH has been to 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 your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy concerning him, and concerning Egypt—all of it.

“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 you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH: Behold, I [am] against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt! The great dragon that is crouching in the midst of his floods, Who has said, My flood [is] my own, 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 And I have put hooks in your jaws, And I have caused the fish of your floods to cleave to your scales, And I have caused you to come up from the midst of your floods, And every fish of your floods cleaves to your 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 have left you in the wilderness, You and every fish of your floods, You fall on the face of the field, You are not gathered nor assembled, I have given you for food to the beast of the earth and to the bird of the heavens.

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 inhabitants of Egypt have known That I [am] YHWH, Because of their being a staff of reed 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 In their taking hold of you by your hand, You crush and have torn every shoulder of theirs, And in their leaning on you you are broken, And have caused all their thighs to 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 said Lord YHWH: Behold, I am bringing in a sword against you, And have cut off man and beast from you.

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 has been for a desolation and a ruin, And they have known that I [am] YHWH, Because he said: The flood [is] mine, and I 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 [am] against you, and against your floods, And have given the land of Egypt for ruins, A dry place, a desolation, from Migdol to Syene, And to the border of Cush.

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 A foot of man does not pass over into it, Indeed, the foot of beast does not pass into it, Nor is it inhabited forty years.

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

12 And I have made the land of Egypt a desolation, In the midst of desolate lands, And its cities, in the midst of cities [that are] laid waste, Are a desolation [for] forty years, And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have dispersed them through lands.

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 But thus said Lord YHWH: At the end of forty years I gather the Egyptians Out of the peoples to where they 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 have turned back [to] the captivity of Egypt, And I have brought them back [To] the land of Pathros, to the land of their birth, And they have been a low kingdom there.

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 It is lowest of the kingdoms, And it does not lift itself up above the nations anymore, And I have made them few, So as not to rule among 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 is no longer for confidence to the house of Israel, Bringing iniquity to remembrance, By their turning after them, And they have known that I [am] Lord YHWH.”

[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 comes to pass, in the twenty-seventh year, in the first [month], on the first of the month, a word of YHWH has been to 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, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Has caused his force to serve a great service against Tyre, Every head [is] bald—every shoulder peeled, And neither he, nor his force, had reward out of Tyre, For the service that he served 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 said Lord YHWH: Behold, I am giving the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, And he has taken away its store, And has taken its spoil, and taken its prey, And it has been a reward to his force.

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 I have given to him his wage for which he labored—The land of Egypt, in that they worked for Me, A declaration of Lord YHWH.

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 In that day I cause a horn to shoot up for the house of Israel, And I give an opening to your mouth in their midst, And they have known that I [am] YHWH!”

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].'”