< Hezekiel 29 >
1 Le ƒe ewolia ƒe ɣleti ewolia me, le ŋkeke wuievelia gbe la, Yehowa ƒe nya va nam be,
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 “Ame vi, trɔ mo ɖe Farao, Egipte fia ŋu, eye nàgblɔ nya ɖi ɖe eya kple Egipte katã ŋu.
“You human, turn toward Egypt and proclaim the terrible things that will happen to the king of Egypt and all his people.
3 Gblɔ nɛ be, ‘Alea Aƒetɔ Yehowa gblɔe nye esi: “‘Metso ɖe ŋuwò, Farao, Egipte fia, wò lã gã wɔadã le wò tɔsisiwo me. Egblɔna be, “Nil tɔsisi la nye tɔnye. Nyee wɔe na ɖokuinye.”
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 Matsɔ ƒu aƒo ɖe wò glã me, eye mana wò tɔwo me lãwo nalé ɖe wò tsro ŋu, mahe wò ado goe le wò tɔsisiwo me kple tɔmelã siwo katã lé ɖe wò tsrokpa ŋuti.
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 Magblẽ wò ɖe gbegbe, wò kple wò tɔwo me lãwo katã; àdze gbadzaƒe dzi, womafɔ wò alo atsɔ wò o. Mawɔ wò nàzu nuɖuɖu na gbemelãwo kple dziƒoxeviwo.
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 Ekema ame siwo katã le Egipte la anya be, nyee nye Yehowa. “‘Ènye aƒlati na Israel ƒe aƒe la.
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 Esi wolé wò kple asi la, èŋe woƒe abɔta, eye esi woziɔ ɖe ŋuwò la, èŋee heƒo ɖe woƒe dzime.
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 “‘Eya ta ale Aƒetɔ Yehowa gblɔe nye esi: “Mahe yi aɖe ɖe ŋuwò, wòawu wò amewo kple woƒe lãwo.
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 Egipte azu aƒedo kple gbegbe. Ekema woanya be nyee nye Yehowa.” “‘Esi nègblɔ be, “Nil tɔsisi la nye tɔnye, nyee wɔe” ta la,
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 metso ɖe wò kple wò tɔsisiwo ŋu, eye mana Egiptenyigba nazu aƒedo kple gbegbe tso Migdol va se ɖe Aswan, va do ɖe keke Kus ƒe liƒowo dzi.
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 Amegbetɔ alo lã aɖeke ƒe afɔ magato edzi o. Ame aɖeke maganɔ afi ma o ƒe blaene sɔŋ.
For 40 years no one will walk through that area, and no one will live there.
12 Mana Egiptenyigba nazu aƒedo le anyigba siwo wògblẽ la dome, eye eƒe duwo azu aƒedo ƒe blaene le du siwo wogbã la dome. Makaka Egiptetɔwo ɖe dukɔwo dome, akaka wo, ahlẽ ɖe anyigbawo dzi.
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 “‘Ke ale Aƒetɔ Yehowa gblɔe nye si. “Le ƒe blaene ƒe nuwuwu la, maƒo ƒu Egiptetɔwo tso dukɔ siwo me wokaka wo ɖo la me.
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 Magbugbɔ wo tso aboyome ava Egipte ƒe Dzigbeme, wo tɔgbuiwo ƒe anyigba dzi, eye woanye fiaɖuƒe sue aɖe le afi ma.
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 Anye fiaɖuƒe gblɔetɔ le fiaɖuƒewo dome, eye magado eɖokui ɖe dzi wu fiaɖuƒe bubuawo o. Mana wòagbɔdzɔ ale gbegbe be, magaɖu dukɔ bubuwo dzi azɔ o.
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 Egipte maganye dukɔ si ŋu Israelviwo naɖo dzi ɖo o, ke boŋ ana woaɖo ŋku woƒe nu vɔ̃ si na wotrɔ ɖe eŋu hebia kpekpeɖeŋu la dzi. Ekema woanya be nyee nye Aƒetɔ Yehowa.”’”
[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 Le ƒe blaeve-vɔ-adrelia ƒe ɣleti gbãtɔ ƒe ŋkeke gbãtɔ gbe la, Yehowa ƒe nya va nam be,
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 “Ame vi, Nebukadnezar, Babilonia fia, ho aʋa kple eƒe dukɔ ɖe Tiro ŋu; tawo katã bebe, eye abɔtawo katã ɖe bo. Ke eya kple eƒe aʋakɔ mekpɔ fetu aɖeke tso aʋahoho ɖe Tiro ŋu me o.
“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 Eya ta ale Aƒetɔ Yehowa gblɔ, ‘Matsɔ Egipte ana Nebukadnezar, Babilonia fia, eye wòalɔ eƒe kesinɔnuwo adzoe. Aha nuwo le anyigba la dzi atsɔ axe fee na eƒe aʋawɔlawo.
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 Metsɔ Egipte nɛ abe fetu ene le eƒe agbagbadzedze ta, elabena nyee eya kple eƒe aʋakɔ wɔ dɔ la na.’ Aƒetɔ Yehowae gblɔe.
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 “Le ŋkeke ma dzi la, ŋusẽ aɖo Israel ƒe aƒe ŋu, eye maʋu wò nu na wò le wo dome. Ekema woanya be nyee nye Yehowa.”
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].'”