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 twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the first [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 Pharao king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against the whole 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].”

and say, Thus says the Lord; Behold, I am against Pharao, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, that says, The rivers are mine, and I made them.

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.

And I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your river to stick to your sides, and I will bring you up out of the midst of your river:

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 quickly cast down you and all the fish of your river: you shall fall on the face of the plain, and shall by no means be gathered, and shall not be brought together: I have given you for food to the wild beasts of the earth and to the fowls of the sky.

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 dwellers in Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because you have been a staff 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 their hand, you did break: and when every hand was clapped against them, and when they leaned on you, you were utterly broken, and did crush the loins of them all.

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.

Therefore thus says the Lord; Behold, I [will] bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast;

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 shall be ruined and desert; and they shall know that I am the Lord; because you say, The rivers are mine, and I made them.

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 all your rivers, and I will give up the land of Egypt to desolation, and the sword, and destruction, from Magdol and Syene even to the borders of the Ethiopians.

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

No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it, and it shall not be inhabited 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 cause her land to be utterly destroyed in the midst of a land that is desolate, and her cities shall be [desolate] forty years in the midst of cities that are desolate: and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and will utterly scatter them into the countries.

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.

Thus says the Lord; After forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations among whom they have 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 turn the captivity of the Egyptians, and will cause them to dwell in the land of Phathore, in the land whence they were taken;

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.

and it shall be a base kingdom beyond all [other] kingdoms; it shall not any more be exalted over the nations; and I will make them few in number, that they may not be [great] among the nations.

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 shall no more be to the house of Israel a confidence bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they follow after them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

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 came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, on the first [day] 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, Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre; every head was bald, and every shoulder peeled; yet there was no reward to him or to his army [serving] against Tyre, nor for the service wherewith they served 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.

Thus says the Lord God; Behold, I [will] give to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon the land of Egypt, and he shall take the plunder thereof, and seize the spoils thereof; and [it] shall be a reward 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].

In return for his service wherewith he served against Tyre, I have given him the land of Egypt; thus 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 shall a horn spring forth for all the house of Israel, and I will give you an open mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.