Ezekiel 29

1 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],

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the eleventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

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

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

3 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].”

Speak, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, you great dragon, who rests in the midst of your rivers. And you say: ‘Mine is the river, and I have made myself.’

4 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.

But I will place a bridle in your jaws. And I will adhere the fish of your rivers to your scales. And I will draw you out of the midst of your rivers, and all your fish will adhere to your scales.

5 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.

And I will cast you into the desert, with all the fish of your river. You will fall upon the surface of the earth; you will not be taken up, nor gathered together. I have given you to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air, to be devoured.

6 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.

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. For you have been a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.

7 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.

When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke, and so you wounded all of their shoulders. And when they leaned on you, you shattered, and so you injured all of their lower backs.

8 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.

Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lead the sword over you, and I will destroy both man and beast from among you.

9 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!”

And the land of Egypt will be a desert and a wilderness. And they shall know that I am the Lord. For you have said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it.’

10 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.

Therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers. And I will make the land of Egypt into a wilderness, destroyed by the sword from the tower of Syene all the way to the borders of Ethiopia.

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

The foot of man will not pass through it, and the foot of cattle will not walk in it. And it will be uninhabited for forty years.

12 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].

And I will set the land of Egypt in desolation, in the midst of desolate lands, and its cities in the midst of overturned cites. And they will be desolate for forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and I will disperse them among the lands.

13 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.

For thus says the Lord God: After the end of forty years, I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they had been scattered.

14 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.

And I will lead back the captivity of Egypt, and I will collect them in the land of Pathros, in the land of their nativity. And in that place, they will be a lowly kingdom.

15 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.

It will be the lowest among the other kingdoms, and it will no longer be exalted above the nations. And I will diminish them, lest they rule over the Gentiles.

16 [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].” '”

And they will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel, teaching iniquity, so that they may flee and follow them. And they shall know that I am the Lord God.”

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

And it happened that, in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

18 “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].

“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has caused his army to serve with great servility against Tyre. Every head was shaven, and every shoulder was stripped of hair. And wages have not been paid to him, nor to his army, for Tyre, for the service by which he served for me against it.

19 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.

Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will station Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in the land of Egypt. And he will take its multitude, and he will prey upon its profits, and he will plunder its spoils. And this shall be the wages for his army

20 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].

and for the work by which he has served against it. I have given to him the land of Egypt, because he has labored for me, says the Lord God.

21 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].'”

In that day, a horn will spring forth for the house of Israel, and I will give to you an open mouth in their midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”