False Prophets and Teachers

But (A)false prophets also arose among the people, (B)just as there will be false teachers among you, who will (C)secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master (D)who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth (E)will be blasphemed. And (F)in their greed they will exploit you (G)with false words. (H)Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

For if God did not spare (I)angels when they sinned, but (J)cast them into hell[a] and committed them to chains[b] of gloomy darkness (K)to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but (L)preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought (M)a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by (N)turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, (O)making them an example of (P)what is going to happen to the ungodly;[c] and (Q)if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, (R)he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then (S)the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,[d] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially (T)those who indulge[e] in the lust of defiling passion and (U)despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble (V)as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 (W)whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 (X)But these, like irrational animals, (Y)creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as (Z)the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure (AA)to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,[f] while (AB)they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery,[g] (AC)insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts (AD)trained in greed. (AE)Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, (AF)they have gone astray. They have followed (AG)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved (AH)gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; (AI)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

17 (AJ)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. (AK)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, (AL)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely (AM)escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them (AN)freedom, (AO)but they themselves are slaves[h] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, (AP)after they have escaped the defilements of the world (AQ)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, (AR)the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For (AS)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from (AT)the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The (AU)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:4 Greek Tartarus
  2. 2 Peter 2:4 Some manuscripts pits
  3. 2 Peter 2:6 Some manuscripts an example to those who were to be ungodly
  4. 2 Peter 2:9 Or temptations
  5. 2 Peter 2:10 Greek who go after the flesh
  6. 2 Peter 2:13 Some manuscripts love feasts
  7. 2 Peter 2:14 Or eyes full of an adulteress
  8. 2 Peter 2:19 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

Prophecy Against Egypt

29 (A)In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: (B)“Son of man, (C)set your face against (D)Pharaoh king of Egypt, (E)and prophesy against him and (F)against all Egypt; speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

(G)“Behold, I am against you,
    Pharaoh king of Egypt,
(H)the great dragon that lies
    in the midst of his streams,
(I)that says, ‘My Nile is my own;
    I made it for myself.’
I will (J)put hooks in your jaws,
    and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,
    with all the fish of your streams
    that stick to your scales.
(K)And I will cast you out into the wilderness,
    you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall (L)on the open field,
    and (M)not be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
    (N)I give you as food.

Then all the inhabitants of Egypt (O)shall know that I am the Lord.

“Because you[a] have been (P)a staff of reed to the house of Israel, (Q)when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.[b] Therefore thus says the Lord God: (R)Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. (S)Then they will know that I am the Lord.

(T)“Because you[c] said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10 therefore, (U)behold, I am against you and (V)against your streams, and (W)I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, (X)from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 (Y)No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 (Z)And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. (AA)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

13 “For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years (AB)I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14 and (AC)I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to (AD)the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, (AE)and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And it shall never again be (AF)the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. (AG)Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”

17 (AH)In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 (AI)“Son of man, (AJ)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: (AK)Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; (AL)and he shall carry off its wealth[d] (AM)and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 (AN)I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.

21 “On that day (AO)I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and (AP)I will open your lips among them. (AQ)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

A Lament for Egypt

30 The word of the Lord came to me: (AR)“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

(AS)“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
    (AT)For the day is near,
    (AU)the day of the Lord is near;
it will be (AV)a day of clouds,
    a time of doom for[e] the nations.
(AW)A sword shall come upon Egypt,
    (AX)and anguish shall be in (AY)Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
    and (AZ)her wealth[f] is carried away,
    and (BA)her foundations are torn down.

(BB)Cush, and (BC)Put, and Lud, and (BD)all Arabia, and Libya,[g] and the people of the land that is in league,[h] shall fall with them by the sword.

“Thus says the Lord:
(BE)Those who support Egypt shall fall,
    and (BF)her proud might shall come down;
(BG)from Migdol to Syene
    they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
(BH)And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
    and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
(BI)Then they will know that I am the Lord,
    when (BJ)I have set fire to Egypt,
    and (BK)all her helpers are broken.

“On that day (BL)messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting (BM)people of Cush, and (BN)anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;[i] for, behold, it comes!

10 “Thus says the Lord God:

(BO)“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, (BP)the most ruthless of nations,
    shall be brought in to destroy the land,
(BQ)and they shall draw their swords against Egypt
    and fill the land with the slain.
12 And (BR)I will (BS)dry up the Nile
    and will sell the land into the hand of (BT)evildoers;
(BU)I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
    by the hand of (BV)foreigners;
(BW)I am the Lord; I have spoken.

13 “Thus says the Lord God:

(BX)“I will destroy the idols
    and put an end to the images in (BY)Memphis;
(BZ)there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
    so (CA)I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make (CB)Pathros a desolation
    and will set fire to (CC)Zoan
    (CD)and will execute judgments on (CE)Thebes.
15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and cut off the multitude[j] of Thebes.
16 And I will set fire to Egypt;
    Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
    and (CF)Memphis shall face enemies[k] by day.
17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword,
    and the women[l] shall go into captivity.
18 At (CG)Tehaphnehes (CH)the day shall be dark,
    when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and (CI)her proud might shall come to an end in her;
    she shall be covered by a cloud,
    and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus (CJ)I will execute judgments on Egypt.
    (CK)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

20 (CL)In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 (CM)“Son of man, (CN)I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, (CO)it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and (CP)will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 (CQ)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And (CR)I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put (CS)my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him (CT)like a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. (CU)Then they shall know that I am the Lord, (CV)when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 29:6 Hebrew they
  2. Ezekiel 29:7 Syriac (compare Psalm 69:23); Hebrew to stand
  3. Ezekiel 29:9 Hebrew he
  4. Ezekiel 29:19 Or multitude
  5. Ezekiel 30:3 Hebrew lacks doom for
  6. Ezekiel 30:4 Or multitude; also verse 10
  7. Ezekiel 30:5 With Septuagint; Hebrew Cub
  8. Ezekiel 30:5 Hebrew and the sons of the land of the covenant
  9. Ezekiel 30:9 Hebrew the day of Egypt
  10. Ezekiel 30:15 Or wealth
  11. Ezekiel 30:16 Or distress
  12. Ezekiel 30:17 Or the cities; Hebrew they

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