Ezekiel 29

Judgment of Egypt

1In the 1tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2“Son of man, set your face against 2Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all 3Egypt. 3Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord 4God, “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great 56monster that lies in the midst of his 7rivers, That 8has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’4I will put 9hooks in your jaws And make the fish of your 10rivers cling to your scales. And I will bring you up out of the midst of your 11rivers, And all the fish of your 12rivers will cling to your scales.5I will 13abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your 14rivers; You will fall on the 15open field; you will not be brought together or 1617gathered. I have given you for 18food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.6Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the Lord, Because they have been only a 19staff made of reed to the house of Israel.7When they took hold of you with the hand, You 20broke and tore all their 21hands; And when they leaned on you, You broke and made all their loins 22quake.”

8‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will 23bring upon you a sword and I will cut off from you man and beast. 9The 24land of Egypt will become a desolation and waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Because 25you 26said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I have made it,’ 10therefore, behold, I am 27against you and against your 28rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and even to the border of 29Ethiopia. 11A man’s foot will 30not pass through it, and the foot of a beast will not pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years. 12So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the 31midst of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I will 32scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.”

13‘For thus says the Lord God, “At the end of forty years I will 33gather the Egyptians from the peoples 34among whom they were scattered. 14I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and make them return to the land of 35Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. 15It will be the 36lowest of the kingdoms, and it will never again lift itself up above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will not 37rule over the nations. 16And it will never again be the 38confidence of the house of Israel, 3940bringing to mind the iniquity of their having turned 41to Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”’”

17Now in the 42twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 18“Son of man, 43Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor 44hard against Tyre; every head was made 45bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had 46performed against it.” 19Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I 47will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her 4849wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army. 20I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor which he 5051performed, because they acted for Me,” declares the Lord God.

21“On that day I will make a 52horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will 5354open your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”