以西结书 29
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
將埃及地賜給巴比倫王
29 第十年十月十二日，耶和華的話臨到我說： 2 “人子啊！你要面向埃及王法老，說預言攻擊他和埃及全地。 3 你要說：‘主耶和華這樣說：
埃及王法老啊！我要與你為敵，
你這臥在自己河中的大海怪，
你曾經說過：“這河是我的，是我自己造的。”
4 但我耶和華必用鈎子鈎住你的腮頰，
使你河中的魚都緊貼著你的鱗甲，
我必把你和你河中所有緊貼著你的鱗甲的魚，
都從你河中拉上來。
5 我必把你和你河中所有的魚，都丟在曠野；
你必倒在田間，無人收殮，無人埋葬。
我已經把你給了地上的走獸和空中的飛鳥作食物。
6 埃及所有的居民就都知道我是耶和華。
因為你作了以色列家蘆葦的杖。
7 他們用手抓住你的時候，
你就斷裂，傷了他們的肩頭；
他們倚靠你，
你就折斷、扭傷了他們的腰。
8 因此，主耶和華這樣說：看哪！我必使刀劍攻擊你，把人和牲畜都從你那裡剪除。 9 埃及地必荒涼廢棄，人就知道我是耶和華。
“‘因為法老曾說：“這河是我的，是我自己做的。” 10 所以我必與你和你的河為敵；我必使埃及地，從密奪到色弗尼，直到古實邊界，都全然荒涼廢棄。 11 人的腳必不經過那裡，獸的蹄也不經過那裡；四十年之久，無人居住。 12 我必使埃及成為荒地中的荒地，四十年之久，它的城必成為廢城中的廢城。我必把埃及人分散到列邦，四散在各地。
13 “‘主耶和華這樣說：滿了四十年，我必把埃及人從他們所分散到的萬族中招聚回來。 14 我必使埃及被擄的人歸回，使他們歸回自己根源之地巴忒羅，在那裡他們必成為低微的國。 15 這國必成為列國中最低微的，也必不能再攀到列國之上；我必使他們弱小，以致他們不能再管轄列國。 16 埃及必不再作以色列家的倚靠；每逢以色列家轉去仰賴埃及人的時候，他們就想起自己的罪孽。這樣，他們就知道我是主耶和華。’”
17 二十七年正月初一日，耶和華的話臨到我說： 18 “人子啊！巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒使他的軍兵千辛萬苦攻打推羅，以致各人都頭禿肩破；但是他和他的軍兵攻打推羅所付出的辛勞，並沒有從那裡得到甚麼報酬。 19 因此，主耶和華這樣說：看哪！我必把埃及地賜給巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒，他把埃及的財富帶走，搶其中的財為擄物，奪其中的貨為掠物，作他軍兵的報酬。 20 我把埃及地賜給他，作辛勞的報酬，因為他們都是為我效力的。這是主耶和華的宣告。 21 到了那天，我必使以色列家的角生出來，我也必使你以西結在他們中間開口。他們就知道我是耶和華。”
Ezekiel 29
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 29
Against Egypt.[a] 1 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, this word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man set your face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against the whole of Egypt. 3 Speak to him and say: Thus says the Lord:
Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh,
king of Egypt,
you great crocodile
lurking in the streams of the Nile,
you who claimed, “The Nile is mine;
it is I who made it.”
4 I will put hooks through your jaws
and cause the fish of your Nile
to stick to your scales.
Then I will draw you up
from the midst of its tributaries,
with all the fish of those channels
clinging to your scales.
5 I will fling you into the desert,
you and all the fish of your tributaries.
You will fall upon the open field
and not be taken up or buried.
I will give you as food
to the animals of the earth
and the birds of the air.
6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know
that I am the Lord.
The support they gave the Israelites
was no greater than a staff of reed.
7 When they grasped you,
you splintered in their hands.
Whenever they leaned on you, you broke,
causing all their limbs to give way.
8 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from your presence both man and animal. 9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate waste, and the inhabitants will know that I am the Lord.
Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I was the one who made it,” 10 therefore I am against you and your tributaries. I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste, from Migdol[b] to Syene, and even beyond to the frontiers of Ethiopia. 11 No human foot shall pass through it, nor shall any animal foot do so. It shall remain uninhabited for forty years. 12 I shall make Egypt the most desolate of countries, and its cities will be the most deserted of all those that have been laid waste for forty years. Moreover, I intend to scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them over foreign lands.
13 However, thus says the Lord God: After forty years have passed, I will gather the Egyptians back from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I shall restore the fortunes of Egypt and resettle her people in the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they will become a lowly kingdom.
15 Egypt will be the most insignificant of kingdoms and never again will exalt itself above the nations. I will make them few in number so that it will never again rule over the nations. 16 Egypt will no longer be a nation for the house of Israel to trust in, but will rather be for Israel a reminder of its guilt when they turned to Egypt for help. Thus they will know that I am the Lord God.
17 Nebuchadnezzar’s Payment. In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, this word of the Lord came to me: 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has led his army in an exhausting campaign against Tyre. Everyone’s head was rubbed bare and the skin of every shoulder was raw, yet neither he nor his army derived any profit from the campaign he led against Tyre.
19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I now intend to hand over the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He shall carry off its wealth, despoil and plunder it, and amass the wages for his army. 20 As regards payment for his toil, I have given him the land of Egypt because he and his army did it for me, says the Lord God.
21 On that day, I will make a horn sprout up for the house of Israel, and I will empower you to speak out in their midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 29:1 After being defeated at Carchemish in 605 B.C., Egypt was no longer able to support the small Syro-Palestinian states in an effective way against the growing power of Babylon (see 2 Ki 24:7). Despite this, and despite the repeated warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, the kings of Judah did not stop flirting with the pharaoh and calling on his army for help (see Jer 37:1-10). A bad choice, since Egypt had lost its rank as a great power, and the kings only draw down upon themselves the harsh vengeance of the king of Babylon (see 2 Ki 25:1f). Jeremiah (Jer 44:26f; 46) and Ezekiel (Ezek 16:26; 17:7; 23:3; 27:7; and the chapters that follow here) were keenly critical of this policy of alliance with Egypt. In these oracles, the irony is often bitter, but the poetry is splendid.
- Ezekiel 29:10 Migdol: a northern Egyptian city; Syene was in the far south.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
